The search is on to celebrate the region’s leading tourism operators with the launch of the 2021 Yorke Peninsula Tourism Awards.The 2021 Yorke Peninsula Tourism Awards are now open for nominations. Tourism operators, businesses, and event organisers are invited to nominate across 12 award categories.
Yorke Peninsula Tourism Manager, Brooke Liebelt encourages all tourism operators to consider nominating their business. “The Yorke Peninsula Tourism Awards are an excellent way for businesses to share their stories of resilience and diversification during challenging times whilst allowing them to review their objectives, identify growth opportunities and record their achievements.”
“They are a fantastic way to not only promote and highlight the great visitor experiences available in the region, but it also provides businesses the opportunity to gain valuable credibility and exposure within the industry.”
“The Awards would have normally been held last year, but COVID-19 hit just as nominations had closed. The decision was made to postpone until 2021, and we thank our existing nominees and sponsors for their continued support over this time,” Ms Liebelt said.
Entry is open to all Yorke Peninsula tourism operators and businesses and includes a new category for Excellence in Accessible Tourism. For the second time, the Service Excellence Award will be awarded to an entrant recognising their excellent customer service policies and procedures to building strong, long lasting customer relations.
Due to COVID-19 there have been several changes to the Awards Program. The changes are:
- Removal of the Responsible Tourism question in all categories
- Reduced word count to 4000 words
- Extended eligibility period from 1 July 2019 to 31 March 2021 (for the Festivals & Events category, the eligibility period is 1 May 2019 to 31 March 2021)
- New category added to Yorke Peninsula Tourism Awards – Excellence in Accessible Tourism
The Yorke Peninsula Tourism Awards include the important Harry Dowling Award, in honour of the former Mayor of Moonta, Harry Dowling, an early pioneer of regional tourism.
“The prestigious Harry Dowling Award calls for statewide nominations of individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to regional tourism,” Ms Liebelt says.
“Yorke Peninsula Tourism is thrilled to be partnering with the Tourism Industry Council of South Australia to bring this biennial regional awards program to the Yorke Peninsula tourism industry once again.”
Chair of Yorke Peninsula Tourism, Craig Costello says “The Yorke Peninsula Tourism Awards are an excellent opportunity for Yorke Peninsula tourism businesses to showcase what they have to offer and receive recognition for all their hard work and effort. It provides operators an ideal chance to review how their business has evolved and is the perfect start to then go on to the state-based South Australian Tourism Awards which are held later in the year. This will ensure Yorke Peninsula has a solid showing on the state-wide stage.”
Tourism Industry Council of South Australia General Manager, Shaun de Bruyn strongly encourages all tourism businesses to enter.
“Tourism Awards reinforce the important contribution of regional tourism to South Australia and we should all celebrate excellence in our tourism experiences and Yorke Peninsula as a tourism destination,”
Mr de Bruyn says.
Over the past three years Yorke Peninsula has celebrated success at the South Australian Tourism Awards, with seven operators winning in their category and going on to represent South Australia at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.
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