City up for Top Tourism Town title

BALLARAT has been named among the finalists in contention to be named Victoria’s Top Tourism Town.

Voting has now opened in this year’s Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) Top Tourism Town Awards, with those who think the city deserves to win encouraged to cast their vote by 5pm on Friday 26 June.

The awards are administered through the VTIC as the state’s peak body for the tourism and events industry.

All up, 22 towns from throughout the state are competing to be crowned winners across three categories including Top Tourism Town for those with populations over 5,000, Small Tourism Town for those with populations of between 1,500 and 5,000, and Tiny Tourism Town for villages with populations of under 1,500.

With 122,661 the official population estimate for the City of Ballarat as of 30 June last year, the city is once again in the running for Top Tourism Town after winning silver in last year’s awards.

Other finalists hoping to win the same category include Bendigo, Echuca, Mildura, Ocean Grove and Swan Hill.

Also in the central Victorian goldfields region, the town of Avoca is among the finalists in the running to take the Tiny Tourism Town award.

The winning towns will be announced at the Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 12 August at the Morwell Convention and Reception Centre.

Voting for your favourite tourism town can be done through the VTIC website, with one lucky voter set to win a luxurious Melbourne escape for two, as added incentive to vote.