RECOGNISE  .  SHOWCASE  .  CELEBRATE  .  INSPIRE

NSW Top Tourism Town Awards celebrate our state's diverse and outstanding regional destinations. The Awards provide communities, business chambers, visitor centres and local governments the opportunity to showcase how their town encourages tourism development, increases visitation and drives the visitor economy for our state.

2023 CATEGORIES

To help you navigate Quality Tourism Australia's nomination process, we've created a downloadable Portal User-Guide

ENTRY FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions

Nominations are open to any city or town, specifically relating to geographical towns and population centres, not Local Government Areas. 

Entries are encouraged from Local Chambers of Commerce, Local Tourism Associations, or motivated individuals/groups of locals passionate about elevating the profile of their town but must be submitted via the Visitor Information Centre or Local Council.

Contact us with any questions related to eligibility.

Yes. $250 per nomination. If you are nominating on behalf of multiple towns you will pay for each additional category. 

The terminology can be a little confusing!

Nominating is when you formally advise of your intent to enter the NSW Top Tourism Town Awards. At this point, you nominate your chosen category for entry, provide details of the town you are entering and pay your entry fee. This part should take no longer than a few minutes to complete. 

To help you navigate Quality Tourism Australia's nomination process, we've created a downloadable Portal User-Guide

Hall of Fame rules have been revised for Australia's Top Tourism Town Awards by the Australian Tourism Industry Council commencing 2023. 

The Hall of Fame is awarded to a town that has won the same category for 3 consecutive years (please note this rule has changed from 2022, which was two years, but is effective as of 2023 only).

Hall of Fame is awarded at the state/territory and National level.

The Hall of Fame rules are:

1.    Towns that are inducted into the National Hall of Fame are precluded from entering into that specific category at the state/territory level for a period of three years.
       a. Note: The town may enter other eligible  categories.

2.   If a town is inducted into the State/Territory Hall of Fame, and do not win Gold at the National Awards in the same year, then they are precluded from entering into that specific category at the state/territory awards for a period of three years.

        a. If the town does win Gold at the National Awards, but are not inducted into the Hall of Fame, they are eligible to enter into the State/Territory  awards in the next year.

 

You can access your feedback by going to the TAB titled past submissions within the awards portal. You choose your past submission and then select to download feedback.

Yes, however, you are encouraged to refer to the 2022 judges' feedback to enhance your entry.   

Yes, but keep it simple as you only have 300 words for this question. This would be within your response to the marketing question: What is the target market for your submission and why have you chosen this target market? 

Yes. All past entrants are encouraged to re-enter to achieve a first time win or increase their chances at becoming a Hall of Fame winner, which recognises those towns who have won a category in three consecutive years.

By re-entering and winning at a state level, you increase your chances of being recognised as the best in the country if you win at the Australian Top Tourism Awards.

You can view the 2022 winning entries from Mudgee, Berry and Carcoar  who won  top honours in the NSW Tourisn Awards, and review the entries from Newcastle, Moama and Khancoban who took out the Judges Choice Awards. 

ReviewPro is an online reputation management platform that aggregates online reviews from over 175 online travel agencies (OTAs) and review sites and in more than 45+ languages into one easy to use platform.

The industry-standard Global Review Index (GRI) is an online reputation score available exclusively to ReviewPro clients, which is used by thousands of businesses worldwide as a benchmark for reputation management efforts. Based on data collected from review sites, the GRI can be calculated for a given point in time (day, week, month, year, etc).

The GRI is used as although the consumer vote is a great tool in the judging process, it can turn into a popularity vote by people that may not have necessarily experienced the town, or by those that can market better to get the votes in. ReviewPro brings in an element of consumer review, but by those that have actually experienced the products within the town, and isn’t influenced by the town’s ability to market for votes.

To create ReviewPro accounts for the chosen businesses, a TripAdvisor, Booking.com or Google Review URL for each accommodation and attraction will be needed. These need to be provided within your submission.
There is no cost for the entrant to create the ReviewPro accounts. 

Each individual business nominated needs to have at least 25 online reviews in the 365 days leading up to 5 April 2023 when the GRI will be generated. 

Yes, you can but where possible, you are encouraged to select from those within your town.

Yes, natural attractions can be included provided they have a TripAdvisor or google review URL with reviews. A minimum of 25 reviews is required over a twelve month period to generate a GRI. 

Congratulations to NSW's 2022 NATIONAL WINNERS & Finalists
TOP TOURISM TOWN awards

Powered by Business NSW, the NSW Tourism Industry Council (NSWTIC) helps maximise the potential of businesses operating in the state's Visitor Economy, ensuring New South Wales remains the number one tourism destination in Australia. 
Disclaimer: In no event will the judges be held responsible for any comment, viewpoint, or expression whether expressed or implied, concerning the standard or quality of an entrant’s submission. Entrants agree not to bring any claim against any of the judges, award co-ordinators, NSW Tourism Industry Council/ Business NSW or Award sponsors. Entrants agree that the judges’ decisions are final and that no correspondence will be entered concerning such decisions.