FOR TASSIE WINNERS

FIRST TIME NATIONAL GOLD

FOR TASSIE WINNERS

While the 2021 Australian Tourism Awards Gala might be a few months behind us, there’s little chance that its memory will fade any time soon for 15 brilliant Tasmanian operators who took away a national medal. As the Australian tourism industry’s peak awards program recognising and promoting excellence, taking out top spot is the highest honour, and team Tassie was thrilled to bring home eight gold trophies. For four first-time national gold winners, it will be a night to remember for many years yet. Wonders of Wynyard Exhibition and Visitor

Information Centre is no stranger to Tourism Awards Gold, having won the category at the Tasmanian state level every year since 2016, and entering the Tasmanian Hall of Fame in 2018 after three consecutive wins. In 2019, they took things national, winning Silver in the Visitor Information Services category at the Australian Tourism Awards, before their national gold win at the most recent national Gala in March this year. Tourism and Marketing Manager Rachael Hogge says the achievement was a humbling recognition of the team’s efforts throughout two of the toughest years our industry has ever faced. “It was such a proud moment

Wonders of Wynyard – Rachael Hogge, Cr Robby Walsh and Tracey Bradley

for our team to say, ‘we survived and we did okay’,” she says. “Winning the Tasmanian Awards for the past five years has given us the confidence that we are getting some things right, that we understand our customers, and that we’re delivering a service that they need and appreciate. “But to be recognised at a national level was an absolute honour and a fitting celebration, given the last time we left

the state was for the national awards in Canberra two years ago!”

For Wonders of Wynyard, it’s a case of practice makes perfect when it comes to Tourism Awards submissions, and Rachael says the challenges experienced during the qualifying period might actually have been the secret sauce to their submission. “Compared to previous years, our results were down and the disruptions of Covid meant that our long-term strategic planning flew out the

Blue Derby Pods Ride – Tara and Steve Howell

window,” she says. “But I think the judges saw the passion our team has for their role in the tourism economy, their willingness to adapt to the challenges, and our ability to change our strategies on the hop and mitigate the risks that arose.” The unique challenges of the two-year Awards qualifying period were acknowledged specifically in a new national category which was also taken out by a Tasmanian operator.

Blue Derby Pods Ride

won the Covid-19 Judges’ Choice Award, recognising the business’ exceptional innovation and resilience throughout the 2019-2021 period. Director Tara Howell says the recognition affirmed the steps that the business took to adapt to a changing market. “Covid forced us to innovate really quickly, because 95 percent of our usual market comes from interstate or overseas,” she says. “We had undertaken risk profiles including changed markets, so we were able to automatically develop a custom Tasmanian offering that was geared towards an exclusively intrastate market. “Even during the peak of Covid, we had really good take-up on this offering, with between 75-95 percent occupancy in our pods. To be recognised at a national level for this meant a lot, and was a really wonderful feeling.” Having won a number of Tourism Awards at the state level, including Bronze in the New Business category in 2017, and Silver in the Adventure Tourism Category in 2018 and 2019, Tara says this year’s Gold win confirms that their submissions get stronger every year. “We’ve become more established as a business and had the space to become more innovative, so there’s

Gordon River Cruises – Leanne Hays and Sean Gerrity

more for us to reflect on and celebrate as we write our submission,” she says. “The mentoring and judges’ feedback is always helpful, too, and we have been able to use this to our advantage each year.”

The west coast’s Gordon

River Cruises is another Tourism Awards veteran, with three state-level Golds in the Tour & Transport Operators category under their belt. They’ve enjoyed a whirlwind of accolades over the past two years, with a Silver at the 2019 Australian Tourism Awards, and then a third consecutive state Gold ushering them into the Tasmanian Tourism Awards Hall of Fame in 2021. Their first national Gold in 2021 was the cherry on top, and Marine Operations Manager Sean Gerrity says the achievement still feels significant several months later.

“In a room of high calibre peers all vying for Gold, it’s not a like a race with a clear winner,” he says of the announcement on in March. “Everyone does an outstanding job, so you expect it to come down to fractions of points.”

While a small team was able to celebrate the win at the National Gala on the Sunshine Coast, Sean says the real celebration kicked off when they got home to Tasmania. “We were ecstatic to be able to accept the award, but it was on behalf of our whole team who do a fantastic job day in and day out,” he says. “When we got back to Tassie, it was another big high of celebrating together, and it was really special for the team to be able to hold the Award in their hand to symbolise all of their hard work.”

For Mures Tasmania, 2021 was only their second year of entering the Tourism

Mures Tasmania – Jack, Judy, Wilson, Will and Eve Mure

Awards. In the stuff of awards trajectory dreams, they earned a state-level Silver in 2019, followed in quick succession by state- and national-level Golds in 2021. Directors Will and Jude Mure say the rigorous Awards submission process provided an opportunity to record and reflect on what makes their business tick. “It’s a phenomenal feeling to have our hard work and passion recognised in this way,” Jude says. “We know that we do a great job, with an amazing team supporting our family’s vision, but we were also really honest in our submission about the struggles that our business has gone through with Covid.

“But this inspired us to innovate and to move forward with things that we had wanted to do for a long time, and we were able to celebrate that in our submission, too.”

Will says that the Tasmanian pride was strong at the National Awards Gala, and that representing the state as a national finalist was a win in itself. “It’s a unique setting to walk into a room full of tourism operators who have gone through their own incredible journey of heartbreak, hard times and challenges,” he says. “We felt so proud to sit at a Tasmanian table as a collective group, and to share in how well we did as a state.” This year’s Tasmanian Tourism Awards program is now underway, with around 80 exceptional Tassie businesses vying for their shot at Gold in 2022.