	{"id":114441,"date":"2025-07-24T14:11:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T04:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=114441"},"modified":"2025-07-24T14:46:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T04:46:54","slug":"silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BALLARAT is celebrating after taking out the silver award in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards announced in Shepparton last night.<\/p>\n<p>Announced at last night\u2019s gala ceremony, the accolade reinforces Ballarat\u2019s position as one of the state\u2019s leading visitor destinations, known for its creative tourism offerings and visitor experience innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Tourism Midwest Victoria chair John Pandazopoulos congratulated Ballarat on the silver result and praised the region\u2019s continued leadership in Victorian tourism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBuilding a standout destination doesn\u2019t happen overnight \u2013 it takes teamwork, dedication and a shared vision. This award highlights the strength of our region\u2019s collective effort,\u201d Mr Pandazopoulos said.<\/p>\n<p>City of Ballarat mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves said the award highlighted the strength of collaboration within the local tourism industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are thrilled to be recognised with silver in the 2025 Top Tourism Town Awards,\u201d Cr Hargreaves said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a celebration of everyone who contributes to Ballarat\u2019s evolving tourism story, from major attractions and emerging businesses to proud residents who invite their friends and family to visit the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis achievement puts Ballarat on the map once more as a dynamic, welcoming and must-visit destination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Run by the Victoria Tourism Industry Council, the awards celebrate towns across the state that provide outstanding visitor experiences, with 25 finalists vying for the awards this year.<\/p>\n<p>Warrnambool was named Victoria\u2019s Top Tourism Town (population over 5000) while Mount Beauty won the Top Small Tourism Town Award (population between 1500 and 5,000) and Trentham took home the Top Tiny Tourism Town Award (population under 1500).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BALLARAT is celebrating after taking out the silver award in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards announced in Shepparton last night. Announced at last night\u2019s gala ceremony, the accolade reinforces Ballarat\u2019s position as one of the state\u2019s leading visitor destinations, known for its creative tourism offerings and visitor experience innovation. Tourism Midwest Victoria chair [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":114445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-114441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ballarat wins silver in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards, highlighting its standout visitor experience and community spirit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ballarat wins silver in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards, highlighting its standout visitor experience and community spirit.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-24T04:11:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-24T04:46:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg?_t=1753332415\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Times News Group\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Times News Group\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Times News Group\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795\"},\"headline\":\"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-24T04:11:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-24T04:46:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":259,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-24T04:11:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-24T04:46:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"Ballarat wins silver in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards, highlighting its standout visitor experience and community spirit.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Second place: Ballarat has been awarded silver in this year's Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards. Photo: FILE\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ballarat Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/BALT.png\",\"width\":739,\"height\":98,\"caption\":\"Ballarat Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795\",\"name\":\"Times News Group\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/author\\\/warick\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat - Ballarat Times","description":"Ballarat wins silver in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards, highlighting its standout visitor experience and community spirit.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat - Ballarat Times","og_description":"Ballarat wins silver in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards, highlighting its standout visitor experience and community spirit.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/","og_site_name":"Ballarat Times","article_published_time":"2025-07-24T04:11:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-24T04:46:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg?_t=1753332415","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Times News Group","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Times News Group","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/"},"author":{"name":"Times News Group","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795"},"headline":"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat","datePublished":"2025-07-24T04:11:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-24T04:46:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/"},"wordCount":259,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/","name":"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat - Ballarat Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-24T04:11:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-24T04:46:54+00:00","description":"Ballarat wins silver in the 2025 Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards, highlighting its standout visitor experience and community spirit.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/Feature-Image-3-2-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Second place: Ballarat has been awarded silver in this year's Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards. Photo: FILE"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/silver-top-tourism-gong-for-ballarat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Silver Top Tourism gong for Ballarat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","name":"Ballarat Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#organization","name":"Ballarat Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2021\/10\/BALT.png","width":739,"height":98,"caption":"Ballarat Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/#\/schema\/person\/a18f05ec53852f1d7d0528135e60d795","name":"Times News Group","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/author\/warick\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114441"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=114441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}