City and towns in line for top spot award

Geraldton is in the running to claim the title of WA’s top holiday spot after it was named a finalist in the 2021 GWN7 Top Tourism Town Awards.

Between two categories featuring 17 towns, seven Mid West and Gascoyne towns have made it on to the list of finalists.

Competing against Geraldton in the major category are Kalbarri, Exmouth, Busselton, Collie, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Karratha, Manjimup and Pinjarra.

In the small tourism town award category, the contenders are Jurien Bay, Coral Bay, Carnarvon, Denham, Balingup, Derby, Dwellingup and Harvey.

The public chooses the winner through online voting, and City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn urged people to get behind Geraldton, which last won this accolade in 2016.

“Let’s channel all our hometown pride into the online voting and spread the word about how fantastic Geraldton is near and far,” he said.

Visitor Centres WA chair Troy De Souza encouraged the public to get behind their favourite holiday destination.

“We know that in the past year, many people have taken the opportunity to explore WA, revisit destinations they haven’t been to in a while, or seek out somewhere new for their getaways,” he said.

“These awards give us all the opportunity to reward towns for the way they treat their visitors, so it’s a great way to say thank you to the places we love to visit or have recently discovered in our travels.”

The winning towns will secure television advertising packages.

The voting public also go in the running to win a $5000 travel voucher or $500 to spend at any RAC park or resort.

The winners will be announced at the 2021 Perth Airport WA Regional Tourism Conference dinner in Geraldton on May 4.

For the first time the winner will compete for a national gong against destinations in other States.

Voting closes on April 8.

To vote, visit toptourismtown.com.au.