Port Fairy named one of the nation’s top tourist towns

Published on 13 September 2022

Port Fairy has again been named one of Australia’s top tourist towns at a ceremony in Canberra.

The town took out the bronze medal at the Australian Top Tourism Town Awards on Tuesday, where it was up against six other nominees in the small town category.

Port Fairy qualified for the national awards after winning back-to-back gold at the Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards in July.

Mayor Cr Ian Smith said to be named in the top three small tourist towns in the country for two years running was an excellent result.

“Finishing on the podium at the national awards again is a great result and one that everyone should be incredibly proud of,” Cr Smith said.

“It’s a reflection of the superb tourism offering in our region and the hard work of everyone involved to ensure visitors have a great experience.

“Council’s tourism teams work closely with local operators and work hard to promote not just Port Fairy, but the whole Moyne region. It’s a whole of community effort and congratulations go to everyone involved in our incredibly important tourism industry.”

Cr Smith said following awards like these the Visitor Information Centre sees a significant spike in enquiries which allows them to promote the whole Moyne region to a wider audience.

“The tourism sector is worth around $70 million to Moyne’s economy annually so it’s important we do whatever we can to help encourage visitors back to our region following two years of COVID related travel restrictions,” he said.

“Awards like this add another string to our bow and help us promote the region to a wider audience and showcase what a wonderful place Moyne is to visit – from the volcanic plains through to the coast.”