Top tourism honours for Ningaloo coast

The Ningaloo coast has earned top honours at the recent WA Tourism Awards gala dinner in Perth, taking home six medals.

Coral Bay-based Sail Ningaloo led the coast’s contingent with a gold medal in the ecotourism category and bronze in adventure tourism.

Charter 1 took home bronze in the ecotourism category.

Exmouth Visitor Centre won a gold medal for visitor information services.

Three Islands Whale Shark Dive and Exmouth Holidays took home silver medals in specialised tourism services and adventure tourism, respectively.

Visitor Centre general manager Kristy Bryan-Smith said the win highlighted the “extraordinary” holiday experiences and high level of service visitors to the Ningaloo could expect.

“Our entire team here at the Exmouth Visitor Centre is extremely honoured to have received this very prestigious award, which reflects the five-star customer service, expert local knowledge and comprehensive bookings service our centre provides for visitors to the Ningaloo, ” she said.

“Ningaloo is one of this country’s premiere eco-adventure destinations, offering visitors a diverse range of truly unforgettable experiences on land, air and sea.

“In achieving this award the Exmouth Visitor Centre is proud to be able to draw further recognition of this fact.”

Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said the gala dinner was an opportunity for the industry to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity among the sector.

“The level of participation and the high standard of entrants in the awards program reflects the passion and professionalism seen in the industry throughout WA, ” he said.

Mr Hall said this year’s winners exemplified the diversity of the tourism industry.

Tourism Minister Kim Hames said the awards recognised and celebrated excellence in the tourism industry.

Mr Hames said tourism was an important contributor to the economy, generating about 94,000 jobs and $8.7 billion in visitor spend to the economy.

The Exmouth Visitor Centre and Sail Ningaloo will go on to compete in the Australian Tourism Awards, due to be announced in Melbourne next February.