SA Tourism Awards

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:07): My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister update the chamber on the winners at the recent South Australian Tourism Awards?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (15:07): It's a pleasure to update the chamber on the recent awards, which I attended on Friday night, the 2018 tourism industry awards night. It was an honour to attend, speak and present at the awards. It is recognised as tourism's night of nights and there were more than 30 category winners. More than 750 industry representatives were in attendance. Three first-time entrants were crowned best in their categories, with 37 finalists receiving silver or bronze medals, seven of which were first-time entrants.

Attached to the awards is a robust awards support program for nominees, which provides an opportunity for tourism businesses to gain further insight into the industry, their fellow businesses and to recognise their success. The awards recognise their creativity, innovation, resilience and passion, qualities that are proving to grow both the industry and our economy.

Some of the awards' highlights included two regional businesses that took home the RAA People's Choice Tourism Award: the Calypso Star Charters in Port Lincoln for their shark diving and BIG4 Renmark Riverfront Holiday Park. Catherine Hughes was named the South Australian Tourism Student of the Year.

Catherine is a student and the president of the Tourism and Event Management Club at the University of South Australia. The d'Arenberg Cube was awarded the prestigious Premier's Award for Service Excellence. New to this year's awards program was the South Australia-only award for Excellence in Accessible Tourism. That too went to the BIG4 Renmark Riverfront Holiday Park, recognising that they offer a product and service welcoming people of all abilities.

Four businesses were inducted into the South Australian Tourism Awards Hall of Fame having won their respective categories for a third consecutive year: Aboriginal Cultural Tours South Australia, the Qantas Award for Excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism; Wrightsair, for major tour and transport operators, and they do a fabulous job based at William Creek showcasing our outback; Mulberry Lodge Country Retreat, the hosted accommodation award winner; and the fourth one was The Playford MGallery by Sofitel for luxury accommodation.

Mr Peter Cahalan received the Outstanding Contribution by an Individual Award. Peter’s contribution to the tourism industry spans five decades, incorporating cultural tourism, heritage tourism, marketing, industry development, destination management and more recently in partnering with tourism stakeholders across the state. I have recently enjoyed working with Peter in my time as minister. It is very exciting that the category winners will represent South Australia at the national Australian Tourism Awards in Tasmania next year.

We have some outstanding businesses here in South Australia that are providing some incredible experiences which can’t be found anywhere else in the country. Congratulations, not just to the winners and the nominees, but to the entire industry which now contributes some $6.7 billion to our visitor economy, directly employing some 36,700 people in our great state of South Australia.

I was also encouraged by the passion, dedication and innovation of this industry which is integral to our state's economy. The awards night was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the collective effort of these operators, as they power towards the 2020 target of $8 billion. I congratulate the SA Tourism Industry Council on another wonderful event, and I am so pleased that they continue the partnership in delivering our annual awards.