Mudgee has won four awards at the 2019 NSW Tourism Awards in Sydney.
Mudgee Region Tourism Inc. won gold in the Visitor Information Services category. Sierra Escape won gold in the Unique Accommodation category. Peppertree Hill Luxury Farm Cottages won silver in the Self-contained Accommodation category and The Parkview Hotel won Bronze in the Deluxe Accommodation category.
Mudgee Region Tourism CEO, Cara George said the night was a rousing success.
“It was awesome. Winning gold in our category was great. We’ve put a lot of effort into servicing visitors as they come in to the region. It’s nice to see all of those efforts are working, it’s great to be acknowledged for that. It was really nice to enjoy the night with other people from the region who were finalists,” she said.
“There was a really strong Mudgee contingent at the event, we had more finalists than we’ve ever had before. In fact we were the only region to have two tables full of people, we had a lot of representation.”
Mudgee had such a strong showing that MC of the event, David Campbell made Mudgee the focus of some of his jokes.
“He mentioned Mudgee a lot, most of his commentary was along the lines of ‘Something’s going on in Mudgee, something’s going on in Mudgee.’ That gave us a little extra plug, he was impressed how much Mudgee was a finalist.”
The Gold Medal winners Mudgee Region Tourism and Sierra Escape go on to represent NSW at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards, to be held in Canberra in March 2020.
This is the third time Mudgee Region Tourism has reached the national level, previously winning gold and bronze.
Other winners from just outside the Mudgee region include gold for Orange360’s ‘Extend the Weekend’ campaign and gold for Forbes’ ‘Grazing Down the Lachlan’ campaign.
Vicki Seccombe, Regional Manager, Western NSW Business Chamber said the awards were a sign of our strong tourism industry.
Cameron and Natascha Darcy from Sierra Escape. Photo: Submitted
“The strength of our tourism industry in Western NSW shone through last night, with 13 of our local businesses being awarded either a Gold, Silver or Bronze,” she said.
“We are particularly excited for our six Gold winners; Heifer Station Wines, Grazing Down the Lachlan, Sierra Escape Mudgee, Mudgee Region Tourism, Orange360 and Outback Astronomy.” Vicki Seccombe said.
Of the 21 total finalists at this year’s Destination Country and Outback category, Mudgee managed an impressive seven spots. This is the fourth year for the Mudgee region at the state level.
The Mudgee award winners are:
- GOLD – Mudgee Region Tourism: Visitor Information Services
- GOLD – Sierra Escape, Mudgee
- SILVER – Peppertree Hill Luxury Farm Cottages, Eurunderee
- BRONZE – The Parkview Hotel Mudgee
Source: Benjamin Palmer, Mudgee Guardian, 15 November 2019
