GOLD COAST, TROPICAL NORTH SHARE TOURISM HONOURS

Dreamworld was crowned best Major Tourist Attraction in the state for a third straight year at Friday night's Queensland Tourism Awards.

Tourism Minister Margaret Keech said the three-straight effort secured Dreamworld’s entry for the second time into the prestigious Hall of Fame and helped the Gold Coast region tie with Tropical North Queensland in winning the most honours at the gala event.

“The Gold Coast and Tropical North Queensland regions each won six awards on the night, which saw around 1,200 people celebrate and commemorate excellence in tourism at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre,” Mrs Keech said.

“The Queensland Tourism Awards recognise the best of the best and it was inspiring to see so many worthy entrants and so many delighted and enthusiastic winners and finalists in a diverse range of 28 award categories.

“I must congratulate the tourism operators in both the Gold Coast and Tropical North Queensland regions in particular for scooping almost half the award categories.

“Clearly, these operators are a great tribute to their respective regions, helping to accommodate, transport, educate and entertain hundreds and thousands of domestic and international visitors each year.

“Dreamworld has been awarded a second position in the Hall of Fame, which is indicative of its popularity and professionalism.

“Entry into the Hall of Fame requires outstanding commitment by the operator and an ongoing delivery of the highest standard in service and product provision – no mean feat in such a competitive and valued industry.

“Dreamworld has grabbed the challenge under Steve Gregg to constantly reinvent itself with a wide variety of new attractions to whet the appetite of tourists from across the nation and across the world.

“They are worthy winners of the major attraction award, and thoroughly deserve their second elevation into the Hall of Fame.”

Mrs Keech said other Hall of Famers this year were the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (also winning a second place), Fantasea Cruises, Albert River Wines, Ashmore Palms Holiday Village, Hahn Premium Hamilton Island Race Week, Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village and RACQ.

“Brisbane, SunshineCoast and the Whitsundays region each won four awards on the night with two wins from the Outback and one each from the Fraser Coast South Burnett and Townsville regions,” she said.

“Townsville’s BungalowBayKoalaVillage, nominated by Wildlife Enterprises, was recognised as the Best Entry of the evening and received $10,000 in publicity for its efforts.

“This was a very special year for ecotourism with Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village accepting the newly-named Steve Irwin Ecotourism Award in honour of the late conservation and tourism champion.

“Steve passionately championed ecologically sustainable tourism so we were very proud to name this award after him and I know Kingfisher Bay Resort was very proud to accept it.”

Mrs Keech also paid tribute to the organisers of the event – Tourism Queensland and the Queensland Tourism Industry Council – as well as the 13-member Judging Panel and the sponsors for ensuring the gala evening was a huge success.

“This is the 10^th year that QR’s Traveltrain Holidays has provided its support and backing to the awards and we were delighted that they joined as our principal partner this year,” she said.

“All state winners now progress to the Australian Tourism Awards on 23 February 2007.

“There they will fly the Queensland flag and hopefully continue our proud record at the national level and showcase Queensland as the number one destination of choice.”

For further information about the Awards, visit www.queenslandtourismawards.com.au.

Media contacts: David Smith 3225 1005 or Louise Yates 3535 5349 / 0419 713 176 (Tourism Queensland)

2006 Queensland Tourism Awards

	Category	Organisation	Winning event/product	Region
1	Major Tourist Attractions	Dreamworld	Dreamworld	Gold Coast
2	Significant Tourist Attractions	Fantasea Cruises	Reefworld	Whitsundays
3	Major Festivals & Special Events	Gold Coast Motor Events Co.	Lexmark Indy 300	Gold Coast
4	Significant Regional Festivals & Events	HamiltonIsland	HahnPremiumHamiltonIsland Race Week	Whitsundays
5	Steve Irwin Ecotourism Award	KingfisherBay Resort & Village	KingfisherBay Resort & Village	FraserCoast South Burnett
6	Heritage & Cultural Tourism	Outback at Isa	Outback at Isa	Outback
7	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism	Torres Strait Regional Authority	Gab Titui Cultural Centre	Tropical North QLD
8	General Tourism Services	RACQ	RACQ	Brisbane
9	Meetings and Business Tourism	Dreamworld	Dreamworld Events	Gold Coast
10	Tourism Retailing	Australia Zoo	Australia Zoo Retail	SunshineCoast
11	Major Tour & Transport Operators	Quicksilver Group of Companies	Quicksilver Group	Tropical North Queensland
12	Significant Tour & Transport Operators	Passions of Paradise	Passions of Paradise	Tropical North QLD
13	Adventure Tourism	Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours	Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours	Tropical North QLD
14	Destination Promotion	Tourism Noosa	Tourism Noosa	SunshineCoast
15	Tourism Product Marketing	Buderim Ginger Ltd	Overboard launch campaign	SunshineCoast
16	Media	Outback Queensland Tourism Authority	Queensland’s Outback Travellers’ Guide	Outback
17	Tourism Education & Training	University of Queensland – School of Tourism	University of Queensland – School of Tourism	Brisbane
18	Tourism Restaurants & Catering Services	Spirit House Restaurant and Cooking School	Spirit House Restaurant and Cooking School	SunshineCoast
19	Tourism Wineries	Murdering Point Winery	Murdering Point Winery	Tropical North QLD
20	Tourist and Caravan Parks	BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort	BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort	Whitsundays
21	Backpacker Accommodation	Wildlife Enterprises Pty Ltd	BungalowBayKoalaVillage	Townsville
22	Hosted Accommodation	Lillydale Host Farm	Lillydale Host Farm	Gold Coast
23	Unique Accommodation	QR’s Traveltrain Holidays	Queenslander Class on The Sunlander	Brisbane
24	Standard Accommodation	Ocean Hotels	Long Island Resort	Whitsundays
25	Deluxe Accommodation	O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat	O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat	Gold Coast
26	Luxury Accommodation	PeppersSpicersPeak Lodge	PeppersSpicersPeak Lodge	Brisbane
27	New Tourism Development	Warner Village Theme Parks	Australian Outback Spectacular	Gold Coast
28	Marie Watson-Blake Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual	Quicksilver Connections	Mike Burgess, Managing Director/Chairman, Quicksilver Connections	Tropical North QLD

Hall of Fame: From 2005: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (Brisbane); Fantasea Cruises (Whitsundays); AlbertRiver Wines (Gold Coast); AshmorePalmsHolidayVillage (Gold Coast).

Hall of Fame: For 2006: Dreamworld (Gold Coast); HahnPremiumHamiltonIsland Race Week (Whitsundays); KingfisherBay Resort & Village (FraserCoast); and RACQ (Brisbane).