Carnarvon is Top Tourism Town

PRESS RELEASE Thursday, 6 September 2018

In a first for Carnarvon, the town has won the Top Tourism Town Award for population under5,000, announced at the annual WA Tourism Conference on Wednesday 5 September, at the Perth Convention Bureau. The prize of a $10,000 GWN 7 Advertising Package will provide a valuable boost for the hard-working business operators in the area.  This year Carnarvon was up against two other finalists, Christmas Island and Coolgardie, and also took the sub-category prize for Community Engagement. Winning the Top Town Award required submitting a comprehensive 20-page document plus a 2 minute destination video. Judges then visited each finalist to experience the range of tourism activities on offer.

In Carnarvon the judges were able to enjoy visits to the Space Museum located at the iconic Satellite Dish, the Carnarvon Heritage Precinct, local food outlets, the visitor centre, the Fruit Loop route to sample local produce, and a Scenic Flight with Coral Coast Helicopters Services – landing at the One Mile Jetty Heli-Pad. Stakeholders from the region also hosted the judges at a special networking event, including the Shire of Carnarvon executive management team, volunteers from the Space Museum, Caravan Park operators, Local Business operators, Chamber of Commerce, Shire President and Councillors plus Advisory Committee members of the Carnarvon Heritage Precinct. Carnarvon Visitor Centre Coordinator, Stephanie Leca was at the WA Tourism Conference this week and was extremely honoured to accept the award on behalf of the Carnarvon community.

“The community and Visitor Centre team have worked extremely hard to change the perception of Carnarvon and improve the visitor experience,” said Stephanie. “Carnarvon is really going to embrace this BIG win. In addition to the winning prize package from GWN 7, Carnarvon is going utilise this status to really showcase why Carnarvon is a unique holiday destination in Western Australia,” Stephanie added.

Shire President Karl Brandenburg was also thrilled with the new title for Carnarvon. “I am extremely honoured to be part of the Carnarvon community especially those people who work tirelessly to showcase our unique environment, that surrounds our beautiful town and makes it a wonderful destination for those who are adventurous enough to explore and enjoy our natural beauty,” he said. “I am so proud of our Shire involvement, team members and wonderful community people who have contributed to this major achievement,” Karl concluded. The win has been attributed to a large number of successful activities such as the recent Gascoyne Food Festival developed in collaboration with the Gascoyne Food Council, that hosted over 2000 people at events in town during August.