A number of Northern Tasmanian businesses took out top prizes in the National Tourism Awards in Sydney on Friday night.
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Coal River Farm received the excellence in food tourism award, while the wukalina Walk received the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island tourism experience award.
Founders and owners of Coal River Farm, Daniel Leesong and Melanie Leesong, said they were thrilled to be announced as winners in their category.
"We were shocked. It was a really nice surprise at the national level, there are so many great products that are worthy of winning," Mr Leesong said.
Coal River Farm is an artisanal cheese and chocolate manufacturer known for handmaking its produce at a farm in Cambridge in the state's South.
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"We have customers come on site to experience that and sell them around Australia, retail stores and distributors," Mr Leesong said.
Mr Leesong along with his wife, said they started the business because they want to do something for themselves.
"We had a property which was in the tourism area and we thought it would be fun to put together a truly Tasmanian artisanal family owned operation. It's been a really exciting journey," he said.
Ms Leesong credited the amazing team of chocolatiers and cheesemakers on their sites and also paid tribute to staff and managers in retail stores.
A representative of wukalina Walk, Clyde Mansell said it was an unbelievable feeling to receive the accolade for best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island tourism experience.
"The walk was a concept from when I was on the land council and the land was being returned to the community," Mr Mansell said.
"I always felt that given an opportunity to take people out onto our cultural homeland, our younger people, our guides, we would use them as guides and they would be able to tell the story and our cultural interpretation."
Mr Mansell said the walk played an important part of reconciliation by taking non-Aboriginal people out in the country who would normally not have the opportunity to be involved in cultural interpretation.
"This is changing the way history is being told and this is changing the perception of who the Aboriginal community is," he said.
Premier and Tourism Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the awards are well-deserved recognition of the outstanding work being done by individuals and businesses in our tourism sector.
"Tasmania's tourism industry is world class and supports thousands of jobs across the state, and these results will attract even more people here to see for themselves the amazing experiences we have to offer," Mr Rockliff said.
"Having this many Tasmanian tourism businesses represented on the national stage is a sign of the strength and reputation of our tourism industry, and the amazing variety of quality experiences our island offers to visitors," he said.
The Bangor Vineyard Shed in Dunalley also received a gold medal.
Satria Dyer-Darmawan
Satria Dyer-Darmawan is a journalist for The Examiner and considers himself to be an all rounder. Originally from the Central Coast of NSW, Satria has worked in Alice Springs and North Queensland and isn't afraid to immerse himself in regional communities.
Satria Dyer-Darmawan is a journalist for The Examiner and considers himself to be an all rounder. Originally from the Central Coast of NSW, Satria has worked in Alice Springs and North Queensland and isn't afraid to immerse himself in regional communities.
