NEW THIS YEAR – TOP TOURISM TOWN AWARDS

In 2021 the Top Tourism Town program is being introduced in each state and territory as part of the Australian Tourism Awards series to recognise diverse and outstanding regional destinations.  

The award aims to recognise and reward towns: 

• that offer an amazing visitor experience  
• where tourism operators, businesses and the local community work together to make their town the best destination it can be  
• that demonstrate a strong commitment, and encourage tourism and increased visitation   

There are two awards: 

• Top Tourism Town Award – those with a population over 5,000  
• Small Tourism Town Award – those with a population below 5,000 

This year entries are open to a submission from accredited visitor information centres (VIC) (this may change from next year). Submit your entry via your VIC if you are a

• local tourism association
• Council
• group of local operators passionate about elevating the profile of their town

Entries will need to include

• A short editorial article on why visitors should visit your town and what they could experience during their visit. The article can be up to 500 words and should be written in the style of a feature article for a print or online newspaper or magazine, and accompanied by six high-quality images highlighting the top attractions in your town. Example
• A 30-second to 2-minute promotional video clip highlighting the key attractions and experiences in your town or city. The video can be professionally produced, or simply something done creatively through a smart phone or Go Pro – just make it fun, interesting, and highlighting what’s special about your town and why people should visit it. Example
• A short self-drive itinerary that starts and finishes in your town, and showcases your local and nearby attractions, experiences, accommodation and dining options. The itinerary should be for 3 to 4 days and can be for a couple, or a young family (two adults and two children). As part of the itinerary, define your target market for your trip, and outline a fun and engaging itinerary to explore the vest of your town and its surrounds. Example

Nominations

Each state has different key dates for this award, and most have not been published yet (There are links to all state tourism websites later in this article).

The following states are accepting nominations now

• QLD – Nominations close 23 February, submissions due 30 March
• VIC – Nominations close 1 March, submissions due 16 April
• TAS – Nominations close 29 May, submissions due 3 July

In WA, nominations have already closed.

LEARN MORE ABOUT TOP TOURISM TOWNS

CHANGES TO SUBMISSIONS

QUALIFYING PERIOD

The qualifying period for this year’s awards will be adjusted to account for the variances in closed businesses across the states over the past 12 months due to natural disasters and COVID-19.

The qualifying period will be from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2021 (except for new tourism businesses).

New businesses that commenced operations between 1 July 2019 – 30 July 2020can choose to enter either the New Tourism Business category or an alternate category. Those that commenced operations between 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021 are only eligible to enter the New Tourism Business category.  

CATEGORY NAME CHANGES

As a part of a review for 2021, participation in some categories was reviewed and the following changes were made to better reflect the entrants:

• Specialised Tourism Services is now called Tourism Retail & Hire Services
• Destination Marketing is now called Tourism Marketing & Campaigns
• Standard Accommodation is now called 3-3.5 Star Accommodation
• Deluxe Accommodation is now called 4-4.5 Deluxe Star Accommodation
• Luxury Accommodation is now called 5 Star Luxury Accommodation

REVISED QUESTION SET

Most categories* have a revised question set which focuses on five key areas:

1.    COVID-19 Impacts (0 marks)

2.    Introduction (20 marks)

3.    Business Development (20 marks)

4.    Marketing (20 marks)

5.    Customer Experience (10 marks)

NEW QUESTIONS

The following categories have an updated set of questions that are specific to the individual category:

• Major Festivals & Events
• Festivals & Events
• Ecotourism
• Cultural Tourism
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island Tourism
• Tourism Marketing & Campaigns
• New Tourism Business

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

Businesses can choose whether they want to focus on 

·      strategies implemented to attract or grow their business, and/or

·      strategies implemented as a part of their recovery and resilience to COVID-19. 

Questions have been amended to enable a response from businesses which is most relevant to them.

RESPONSIBLE TOURISM QUESTION TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED

While Responsible Tourism is incredibly important, the challenges faced by many businesses during the qualifying period make it difficult for some businesses to respond to this question, through no fault of their own. 

Rather than disadvantage businesses, the Responsible Tourism section has been temporarily suspended for 2021.

However business innovation or excellence in social, economic, environmental, and ethical tourism can form part of the response to the Business Developmentquestion.

WORD COUNT REDUCED

Because the Responsible Tourism question is not included this year, the word count has also been temporarily reduced to 8,000 words (excluding thecategory of Excellence in Food Tourism). 

SCORING CHANGES

Each submission will be scored on the following elements:

1.    Written submission= 70%

2.    Online review = 10%(see below)

3.    Consumer rating = 20%  (excluding some categories; see below)

ONLINE REVIEW SCORE

Prior to the Site Verification Visit judges will assess entrants’ online activities including each entrant’s

• website
• social media channels
• search engine optimisation
• external listings

A copy of the online review questions will be available in the nominee’s kit.

Scoring of the online review will occur at the State/Territory level only.

CONSUMER RATING SCORE

The consumer rating will be derived from the Global Review Index (GRI) provided by ReviewPro which is the average score of all of a business’ online reviews. A minimum of 25 reviews must have been received during the qualifying period across the 175+ online review sites that ReviewPro captures from in order to receive a GRI score.Businesses that do not have a GRI score will receive a score of 0 for the consumer rating score.

A consumer rating will not apply to

• Major Festivals & Events
• Festivals & Events
• Ecotourism
• Cultural Tourism
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island Tourism
• Business Event Venues
• Tourism Marketing & Campaigns
• New Tourism Business

For those categories where there is a mix of products included, then the consumer rating value will be 5%:

• Tourism Retail & Hire Services
• Excellence in Food Tourism

Entrants will receive a free ReviewPro account from submission until the awards open next year. This will help them respond to online reviews and see where improvements are needed (e.g. if customers regularly comment on facilities or customer service).  

JUDGES’ CHOICE

A Judges’ Choice award will recognise a finalist that the judges believe showed great resilience in what has been a very challenging time. The Judges’ Choice will be selected from the national finalists from categories 1 – 25.

Some states will also run a state Judges’ Choice award which will recognise a finalist that the judges believe showed great resilience in what has been a difficult time. The winner of the state Judges’ Choice will not progress to the nationals unless they win in their category of entry.

YOUR STATE TOURISM AWARDS

You enter the Australian Tourism Awards by winning your category in your state’s tourism awards.

The tourism awards cover 30 categories ranging from attractions, events, tour and transport, accommodation, restaurants, culture, marketing and more.

Some states have additional categories where winners are not eligible to progress to the national awards as the national awards do not include those categories.

• QLD Tourism Awards Nominations Open – Monday 15 March 2021 Nominations Close – Friday 21 May 2021 Submissions Due – Monday 16 August 2021 by 5pm Awards Gala Ceremony (Brisbane) – Friday 12 November 2021

• SA Tourism Awards
  Nominations open – Monday 15 March Nominations close – Monday 21 June Draft submissions due – Wednesday 21 July Submissions due 12pm for Categories 1-15 – Wednesday 18 August Submissions due 5pm for Categories 16-26 – Wednesday 18 August Submissions due for Categories 27-28 – Wednesday 15 September Gala Dinner – Friday 5 November
• WA Tourism Awards
  Nominations will open 8 March
  
• Outback Queensland Tourism AwardsInformation on the 2021 awards is not yet available
• NSW Tourism Awards Information on the 2021 awards is not yet available
  
• NSW Regional Tourism AwardsInformation on the 2021 awards is not yet available
  
• ACT (Canberra Region) Tourism Awards Information on the 2021 awards is not yet available
• VIC Tourism Awards
  Nominations will open 1 MarchOther information on the 2021 awards is not yet available
  
• TAS Tourism Awards
  Information on the 2021 awards is not yet available but information on the Top Tourism Town award is
• NT Tourism Awards
  Nominations will open in mid FebruaryOther information on the 2021 awards is not yet available

OTHER AWARDS

Winners of the following awards will be announced 2 March 2021:

• Grey Nomad AwardsRewarding destinations and businesses that cater for mature-aged travellers
• Australian Street Art AwardsRecognising the role of outdoor art in destination appeal.

Information on other awards that are normally held each year such as the Toilet Tourism Awards and the Adventure Tourism Awards have not yet been published for 2021.