Victoria’s Top Tourism Town Award winners announced!

Bendigo

Winners for Victoria’s Top Tourism Town Awards have been revealed, with Bendigo, Port Fairy and Mount Macedon taking the top honours for 2022. 

Bendigo was named this year’s Victorian Top Tourism Town (population over 5,000), while Port Fairy took the win, for the second year, for the Top Small Tourism Town Award (population between 1500 and 5000), which now inducts them into the Hall of Fame. 

This year also saw the introduction of a new category, Top Tiny Tourism Town (population under 1,500), which was awarded to Mount Macedon. 

Echuca took the Silver award for Top Tourism Town, followed by Frankston which was awarded Bronze. For the Top Small Tourism Town, Sorrento came second (awarded Silver), and Heathcote third (awarded Bronze). 

For the inaugural Top Tiny Tourism Town award, Timboon was awarded Silver, followed closely by Noojee which achieved Bronze recognition. 

The Awards, hosted by the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC), recognise and celebrate towns that provide an outstanding visitor experience, with 18 outstanding finalists competing for the top award. 

VTIC Chief Executive, Felicia Mariani, said the awards showcased the diverse range of regional destinations in Victoria and the economic impact tourism brings to these towns. “Tourism is the lifeblood of our regional towns and centres across Victoria. 

The reliance on the visitor economy was brought home during extended lockdowns when all businesses, not just tourism businesses, were deeply impacted. 

“These awards celebrate the commitment of destinations right across Victoria to delivering the very best experiences, ensuring they create magical memories for their visitors to cherish.” 

The Top Tourism Town Awards are delivered by VTIC in partnership with the Department of Transport, Prime7, Storytowns, Time Out Melbourne, and Victoria University. 

The three Victorian Gold winners will now go on to compete for the coveted title of Australia’s Top Tourism Town in their respective categories, which will be announced in the next few months.

 

“We congratulate all the finalists in these special Awards and we wish the best of luck to our Gold winners who will now represent Victoria in the national competition,” Ms Mariani concluded. 

Full list of finalists: https://www.vtic.com.au/toptourismtown