‘Grafton Jacaranda Festival Inc’ has won the bronze award behind the ‘Eat the Street Festival’ in Lismoreand ‘Woolgoolga Curryfest’in the Festivals and Events section of the 2019 Destination North Coast Regional Tourism Awards. Clarence Valley Council was a finalist in the Destination Marketing section of the awards. Winners in 14 categories were announced at the awards presentation ceremony in South West Rocks last Thursday from finalists including tourism businesses, events, restaurants, wineries and accommodation providers. More than 150 industry representatives were in attendance to see who would take home the coveted awards.

Category winners from the Regional Tourism Awards will now gain finalist status upon entering the NSW Tourism Awards to be held in Sydney in November.

Regional Tourism Awards Chair, Jane Barnes, congratulated all winners and finalists on their contribution to regional tourism.

“Finalists in this year’s program were of a high calibre with a number of first-time entrants on the list. We are thrilled to recognise the best of the region’s tourism industry tonight and wish our winners the best of luck as they progress to compete against operators from the entire state,” said Ms. Barnes.

“We would also like to acknowledge and thank our partners, Destination NSW and the NSW Business Chamber who have both been instrumental in ensuring the success of the 2019 Regional Tourism Awards”.