Victoria is home to so many absolutely adorable small towns, each with its own charm. In our eyes, they all deserve awards for their unique merits, but there are some that have made a name for themselves as being a cut above the rest. For this year's edition of the annual Top Tourism Town Awards, the beloved towns of Bendigo and Daylesford have received well-deserved recognition and taken out prizes for being the best in the whole country. We love to see it.
The awards grant prizes to Australia’s very best tourism towns, small towns and tiny towns. Earlier this year, finalists from Victoria were revealed, with Bendigo, Daylesford and Timboon taking out number one spots across the three categories in the statewide competition. This week, gold winners from around Australia went head-to-head in the national awards. The best of the best were revealed at a ceremony at Parliament House, after the awards were decided through a combined voting process that included both public votes and scores from an industry judging panel. Three towns from across Australia awarded prizes in each of the three categories, and Bendigo and Daylesford were both runner-up in their respective categories. We're swelling with pride!
Bendigo was awarded the silver medal for the Top Tourism Town award, for towns with more than 5,000 residents, Australia-wide. Considering this was narrowed down from dozens of finalists from each state, it's quite an achievement. The gold went to the charming Tasmanian town of Devonport, and Queensland’s outback town of Roma took home the bronze.
For the Small Tourism Town award, for populations between 1,500 and 5,000, Victoria's spa capital of Daylesford came in second place. The town was also recently named as one of the top ten most beautiful towns in the country, and we totally understand the hype. The top prize for this category went to the sleepy coastal town of Exmouth in Western Australia and Tasmania's picturesque town of Richmond came in third. Sadly, for the Top Tiny Town (for populations less than 1,500), Victoria's finalist Timboon didn't make the podium. NSW’s peaceful haven of Huskisson claimed the top prize, followed by Tasmanian coastal spot Stanley and Gundaroo, a tiny historic village just 25 minutes from Canberra.
You can read the full list of winners (and plan your next Aussie road trip accordingly) over here.
Here are the winners of Australia’s Top Tourism Town in 2024:
- Gold: Devonport, TAS
- Silver: Bendigo, VIC
- Bronze: Roma, QLD
Here are the winners of Australia’s Small Tourism Town in 2024:
- Gold: Exmouth, WA
- Silver: Daylesford, VIC
- Bronze: Richmond, TAS
Here are the winners of Australia’s Tiny Tourism Town in 2024:
- Gold: Huskisson, NSW
- Silver: Stanley, TAS
- Bronze: Gundaroo, ACT
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