The Victoria Tourism Industry Council has announced the winners of 2024 Victoria’s TAC Top Tourism Town Awards.
They awards recognise and celebrate towns that provide an outstanding visitor experience, with 17 finalists vying for the prestigious prize. The ceremony took place at the Cleveland Estate in Lancefield where the winners were announced to key figures from the industry.
Bendigo was named as this year’s TAC Victorian Top Tourism Town (population over 5,000), while Daylesford won the Top Small Tourism Town Award (population between 1,500 and 5,000), and Timboon won the gold for the Top Tiny Tourism Town Award (population under 1,500).
Warrnambool, Sorrento and Arthurs Seat won the silver award for the Top Tourism Town, Small Tourism Town and Tiny Tourism Town Awards respectively. While Ballarat, Heathcote, and Koondrook were awarded with bronze.
VTIC chief executive, Felecia Mariani said the awards showcased the diverse range of regional destination in Victoria and the economic impact tourism brings to these towns.
“As Victorians’ passion for travelling in their own back yard only increases in popularity, it’s wonderful to see these amazing towns and regional centres across our state being recognised as places to get on to the must-visit list,” she said.
This year’s Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards were delivered with the support of the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) as the naming rights partner.
TAC head of community, Jacqui Sampson said the TAC was proud to continue its support of the Victorian Top Tourism Awards, and deeply valued the industry’s ongoing promotion of road safety across Victoria.
“Regional Victorian towns are not only fundamental to Victoria’s prosperous tourism sector, they have long been a great advocate of our cause to keep everyone safe on our roads. Congratulations to all of the award finalists and winners, and thank you for your ongoing support of road safety,” he said.
The TAC Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards are also supported by the Department of Transport and Planning, Gawk Outdoor, Storytowns, Time Out Melbourne, Tourism Australia and Victoria University.
The three gold winners will compete for the title of Australia’s Top Tourism Town in their respective categories with the winner to be announced on 10 September at the Parliament House, Canberra.
“The commitment of destinations across Victoria to creating magical experiences for our visitors is just wonderful to see and we’re so proud to be taking our gold winners forward to the national stage as they vie for the title of Australia’s Top Tourism Town in their respective category,” Mariani concluded.
Feature image: Cleveland Estate in Lancefield where the awards were announced.
