Australian Tourism Awards 2018 being held in Launceston

More than 800 of the nation's top tourism identities will be in Launceston tonight for the 2018 Australian Tourism Awards. 

The awards are being held at the Cataract Gorge, with a specially-built marquee constructed over the pool. 

The Examiner will be onsite for the event, and will be bringing the winners to you as it happens.

Launceston praised 

Attendees have dubbed the Australian Tourism Awards in Launceston last night as one of the best events yet. 

More than 800 of the nation's top tourism identities flocked to a makeshift convention centre at the Cataract Gorge.

Guests said they had not seen the level of effort put into the awards before.

Australian Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said the council had made the right choice by coming to Launceston. 

"You have turned a lovely location into a great experience for us … and that's what tourism is," he said.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania's chief executive Luke Martin said it was really great to show off the region to the nation. 

"This is really two-year vision and a lot of work by a lot of people. What a special way to showcase Tasmania," he said. 

The weather was perfect for the event, with the temperature reaching 34 degrees throughout the day. 

"It was warm too, so we going dealt with a few misconceptions about Tasmania's climate for some of those Queenslanders and Northern Territorians," he said. 

The opportunity was a great way to re-package and show Tasmania to the tourism industry and shine a spotlight on Launceston in particular, he said.

"These awards attract operators from every part of the country. All the who's who and a lot of these people it'll be their first time coming to Tasmania and if not, their first time to Launceston," he said. 

"At the end of the day we're going to have 840 advocates and the most influential tourism people in praise of Tasmania and Launceston. 

"It's already happening, even my colleagues from around the country have never seen the effort that has gone into hosting these awards like there is in Launceston."  

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