Canberra’s Jamala Wildlife Lodge has taken home Gold and its stablemate the National Zoo and Aquarium a Silver award at the 2022 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards in Sydney last night, 17 March. This is the first time the Canberra Region has taken home a Gold since the 2018 awards.
“Huge congratulations go to the team at Jamala Wildlife Lodge for taking home the Gold in the Unique Accommodation category. The tourism market is a competitive place, and they finished ahead of outstanding offerings from South Australia and Queensland who took the Silver and Bronze respectively,” said Dr Naomi Dale, Chief Executive Officer of the Canberra Region Tourism Industry Council.
“Canberra Region offers outstanding tourism experiences and so it is wonderful to see that being recognised against some very tough competition. We’ve proven we can achieve amazing things when measuring tourism excellence amongst winners from all states and territories.
“We are so proud as we had 11 entrants representing the Canberra Region at the national level, it’s a tough gig amongst the absolute best of the best that the Australian tourism industry has to offer. Out of those 11, we had two tourism operators receive a place, with the Gold to Jamala Wildlife Lodge and a Silver to the National Zoo and Aquarium in the night’s biggest award – Major Tourist Attractions!
“It’s a big honour to represent our region and of course to receive an award at Nationals, and for Canberra Region to not only score a Gold, but to also take Silver for the biggest category of the night, Major Tourist Attractions, is just a fantastic recognition of the hard work our industry invests in, creating incredible products and programs for our visitors” Dr Dale continued.
Dr Dale also praised two Canberra Region entrants who received Highly Commended awards – National Arboretum Canberra in the category of Tourist Attractions, and Canberra and Region Visitors Centre in the category of Visitor Information Services.
Tonight, the most coveted award, Major Tourist Attractions, saw Adelaide Zoo in South Australia take Gold, with the Gold for Tourist Attractions category being awarded to Bundaberg Rum Distillery Visitor
Experience in Queensland.
In the Aboriginal &Torres Strait Island Tourism Experience category, the Gold was awarded to wukalina Walk in Tasmania, and in the Ecotourism category, Gold went to Live Ningaloo in Western Australia. The Cultural Tourism award went to Geelong Gallery in Victoria, and
in the Major Festivals & Events category, Gold was awarded to The Darwin Festival in the Northern Territory.
The Qantas Australian Tourism Awards celebrates innovation and exceptional standards in tourism, and is made possible through the generosity of sponsors, in particular Qantas, Tourism Australia, and the NSW Government through Destination NSW. For more information on the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards, visit www.qualitytourismaustralia.com/australian-tourism-awards/
