The Bathurst Visitor Information Centre (BVIC) has again taken out the top honour with a Gold Award at the prestigious 2023 NSW Tourism Awards announced at a gala ceremony at the White Bay Cruise Terminal in Sydney on Wednesday 8 November.
The Awards are the peak annual tourism industry event and recognise the best tourism and hospitality operators and events from all over NSW with over 100 entrants competing across 26 categories. BVIC took out the gold award in the category of ‘Visitor Information Services’. This is the second time that BVIC as taken home the top award, having also won in 2021 and received a silver award in 2022.
Bathurst’s achievements as a region continued at the Awards with The Bathurst Heritage Trades Trail being awarded silver and The Bathurst Winter Festival being awarded bronze in the highly competitive ‘Festivals and Events’ category. No other city or region had two finalists in this category, demonstrating Bathurst’s exceptional strength and variety of events. Bathurst luxury accommodation Wilga Station was also successful on the night, taking the bronze award in the category of ‘unique accommodation’ to complete a record night of awards for the Bathurst region.
Mayor Jess Jennings said the awards were a tremendous achievement and recognition for the hard work and commitment of Council’s tourism and events staff.
“Tourism is a strong focus for Bathurst Regional Council with the sector contributing approximately $383 million to the local economy last year” he said.
“The Bathurst Visitor Information Centre really is the heart of tourism for the region and the team there are passionate about what they do, ensuring the best experience for all who visit as well as working every day to keep those visitors coming and staying for longer. A great experience begins with great people, and Council is fortunate to have such a dedicated team at BVIC. The judging process for the awards evaluates achievements in business development, industry engagement, visitor information servicing marketing, sustainability and customer experience, and BVIC has clearly delivered in all these areas”.
“The Bathurst Heritage Trades Trail is an amazing example of a partnership between Council and Community, with the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre working with a team of passionate local heritage advocates and volunteers to deliver what has become the foremost cultural heritage event in regional NSW achieving record attendance in 2023”.
“The Bathurst Winter Festival has transformed what was traditionally one of the quietest times in Bathurst to one of the most vibrant and eagerly anticipated and to see it receive the Bronze Award, following it receiving Silver in both 2021 and 2022, is an outstanding recognition of the hard work of our Events Team and of the quality of the Winter Festival as a signature event”.
BVIC will now go on as the NSW winner to compete as a finalist at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards to be held in Darwin on Friday 15 March 2024.
“It is an outstanding achievement to have this recognition at such a high level, and for Bathurst to be competing on the national stage is super exciting,”.
The Bathurst Visitor Information Centre at 1 Kendall Avenue is open 363 days a year and is an outstanding resource for both visitors and the local community. The centre is committed to growing the Bathurst region visitor economy and working with the regional industry and operators to improve the visitor experience and to market the Bathurst region as a destination of choice.
The Bathurst Winter Festival is well established as one of the most popular and celebrated events in regional NSW will return in 2024 from 29 June -14 July. The Bathurst Heritage Trades Trail has grown to be the premier cultural heritage event in regional NSW and will be held on the weekend of 16-17 March 2024.
