New Tourism Awards to recognise the best among small tourism businesses announced

WA based national publicity company launched PublicityShip has launched a new awards programme aimed at the small operators that are remembered by holiday makers, but yet they are the ones who struggle most for publicity.

When The Mole first saw that yet another awards process was starting up, the first reaction was, oh not another one, but to be fair to PublicityShip they are targeting small operators who rarely make it on to the big stage in the plethora of awards processes already in place.

As a result, they are now giving small tourism operators, whether they be tour, accommodation or product specialists, the chance to win an Australia-wide publicity campaign by entering the inaugural PublicityShip Hidden Jewel Awards.

The Awards are run by PublicityShip and have secured the support of AAT Kings, Channel Nine and Australian Traveller.

A winner from each state and territory will receive a three-month publicity campaign, and the overall national winner gets a 12-month publicity campaign and a blog facility to enhance their e-marketing strategy.

Prizes are supplied by PublicityShip – for more details visit www.publicityship.com.au/hidden-jewel

All entrants will also win attention from participating judges from AAT Kings, Channel Nine (Postcards) and Australian Traveller, with the panel being chaired by Jane Hammond Foster, former editor of Traveltalk and now Manager of PublicityShip.

AAT Kings CEO, Les Cox said that AAT Kings, incorporates small tourism attractions and boutique accommodation in its itineraries, adding, “We are constantly on the lookout for innovative new products that offer a top quality experience for travellers looking to get out and explore Australia”  

Australian Traveller Editor, Greg Barton said, “We are delighted to support any project that helps small and worthy tourism businesses to stand out from the crowd”, adding “Hidden Jewel is a little gem of an idea because you can be sitting on the greatest product in the world, but without an effective way to get your voice out there, you’re going to struggle every inch of the way.

Alex Ristevski of Channel Nine travel show, Postcards, is a great supporter of small tourism ventures, adding “It is a credit to PublicityShip to create a concept that encompasses our philosophy on tourism promotion”.  “Every day in our travels we meet small tourism operators who work tirelessly to run their business and we certainly understand how difficult it is to ‘spread the word’ and how costly advertising campaigns can be.”

Jane says that the procedure for entry is quick and simple, responding to and acknowledging the scarcity of time available to the smaller owner/operators, with entrants simply preparing a Word document answering three criteria with no more than 150 words per section and submitting their entry online with a selection of images.

The closing date for entries is 31 January 2007, with winners to be announced by 15 February.

For more information on the PublicityShip Hidden Jewel Awards, go to www.publicityship.com.au/hidden-jewel or contact Jane Hammond Foster on 1800 468 416 or 0434 246 564 or [email protected]

Report by The Mole