Local operators shone brightly at the 2013 Hunter and Central Coast Tourism Awards last Wednesday.
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Gold award winners included Esca Bimbadgen (tourism restaurants and catering), Chateau Elan at The Vintage (luxury accommodation), Margan (tourism wineries, distilleries and boutique breweries; and excellence in sustainable tourism), Hermitage Lodge (hosted accommodation) and Somewhere Unique (unique accommodation).
“The HVWTA are celebrating alongside our gold winning members and it’s fantastic so many for our area entered and were finalists,” HVWTA acting president Mike De Iuliis said.
“Every year the competition bar gets lifted as the calibre of the experiences available in the Hunter advances.
“The Hunter Valley has been recognised on a national level as a pillar destination in Australian tourism and we appreciate the blood, sweat and tears behind the scenes that operators contribute to making the destination the success that it is.”
Somewhere Unique, an eco-certified accommodation business located at Wollombi, was entered into the Hall of Fame having won this award for three consecutive years.
Owner Melanie Morschel was thrilled with the accolade.
“We’d like to thank all our guests for their support, and providing the wonderful feedback which has helped us create this unique experience,” she said.
Bimbadgen also scooped up the silver award for Tourism Wineries, Distilleries and Breweries at the ceremony at Wests New Lambton.
General manager Rebecca Poynter said the awards are testament to the ongoing hard work of the Bimbadgen team.
“We are thrilled to have received these two awards. The entire Bimbadgen team works tirelessly to ensure a memorable experience for every visitor to both the winery and Esca. It’s great to receive such high recognition for this,” Ms. Poynter said.
The winners will go on to the NSW Tourism Awards in Sydney on November 28.