Mandurah has been named the winner of the GWN7 Top Tourism Town Award in front of more than 200 people at the inaugural WA Regional Tourism Conference Dinner at Albany Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night.
The city beat out fellow finalists Albany and Kalgoorlie-Boulder to claim the award in the category for towns/cities with a population over 5000, receiving a $25,000 airtime package from GWN7 to promote Mandurah on regional television.
“The judges were particularly impressed by Mandurah’s outstanding facilities and their significant planning and infrastructure investment with integrated development and marketing activities by all stakeholders,” Visitor Centres WA chairman Matt Norton said.
Pemberton was named the winner of the GWN7 Top Tourism Award for a town with a population under 5000, with judges particularly impressed by the high level of collaboration across the community and all areas as well as their significant tourism developments in 2016. Pemberton received a $10,000 airtime package from GWN7.
Now in its 28th year, the awards program is a major highlight of the state’s tourism calendar, with prizes coveted by towns and cities across Western Australia.
Entrants were asked to submit a short video showcasing the key attractions and experiences on offer in their town, after this criteria was included in last year’s awards program for the first time.
“Entrants are finding the exercise of creating a video showcasing their destination a very rewarding one, giving them an opportunity to create a marketing tool which they can use in other ways throughout the year,” Mr Norton said.
The Category winners in this year’s awards were:
- Marketing and Media – Cocos Keeling Islands
- Tourism and Business Planning – Albany
- Community Engagement – Pemberton
- Heritage, Cultural and Environmental Visitor Experiences – Kalgoorlie-Boulder
- Destination Video – Kalgoorlie-Boulder
The awards are run by Visitor Centres WA and sponsored by GWN7 and Vanguard.
