Dreamworld, Irwin honoured at Qld awards

[dreamworld_rulz]

Dreamworld, Irwin honoured at Qld awards Friday November 17, 11:11 PM Dreamworld, Irwin honoured at Qld awards Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld has been crowned Queensland's best major tourist attraction and conservationist Steve Irwin has been honoured at the state tourism awards in Brisbane. The prestigious award earned Dreamworld its second entry into the Hall of Fame, and helped the Gold Coast region tie with Tropical North Queensland in winning the most honours at the gala event. It also was a special year for ecotourism with Fraser Island's Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village scoring a spot in the Hall of Fame after winning the newly-named Steve Irwin Ecotourism Award. "Steve's passionately championed ecologically sustainable tourism so we were very proud to name this award after him and I know Kingfisher Bay resort was very proud to accept it," Tourism Minister Margaret Keech said at Friday's awards. A proud Terri Irwin accepted a special award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism on behalf of her late husband, who died aged 44 in a marine accident on September 4. Daniel McGahan, who sang at Irwin's memorial service at Australia Zoo in September, performed at the event. "We decided many months ago to recognise Steve with this special award to express the gratitude of the Queensland tourism industry for his tremendous support, enthusiasm and success in attracting visitors from around the world to visit our state," said Ms Keech, who presented Terri with the trophy and framed certificate. "Sadly Steve's untimely and tragic death meant we weren't able to honour him as we planned." Australia Zoo also took home the award for Tourism Retailing for the second year running. Other 2006 Hall of Fame inductees included the Hahn Premium Hamilton Island Race Week and motoring group RACQ. The Whitsundays' Fantasea Cruises took home the award for Significant Tourist Attractions, while the Gold Coast's Lexmark Indy won the gong for Major Festivals and Special Events. Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Whitsundays region each won four awards, with two going to the Outback and one each from the Fraser Coast South Burnett and Townsville regions. About 1,200 people attended the event at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, which featured musical entertainment from champion swimmer Grant Hackett's ARIA award winning partner, Candice Alley. EDIT : This report is from today's yahoo news. It's a diffrent report but decided to post it anyway. Dreamworld, Irwin honoured at Qld awards Saturday November 18, 07:43 AM Dreamworld, Irwin honoured at Qld awards Dreamworld has been named Queensland's best major tourist attraction for the third year in a row. The Gold Coast and tropical far north both won six categories at last night's industry awards ceremony. Tourism Minister Margaret Keech says the sector is performing well. "The awards last night sent a very strong message that when it comes to tourism, Queensland is number one," she said. "We've got a tremendously strong industry, with wonderful people who work very hard with the Government through our Queensland tourism strategy to drive our industry forward." A special award was also presented to Terri Irwin, to acknowledge the contribution her late husband Steve has made to the tourism industry. Edited November 17, 2006 by dreamworld_rulz

[GoGoBoy]

Why on earth Dreamworld would win the Major Tourist Attraction for this year is beyond me. What have they done this year to deserve this? It should have gone to Movie World in my opinion. Just shows how much the judges really know. "Hmm, who should win it this year? I know, Dreamworld! People always seem to like Dreamworld!"

[dreamworld_rulz]

Why on earth Dreamworld would win the Major Tourist Attraction for this year is beyond me. What have they done this year to deserve this? It should have gone to Movie World in my opinion. Just shows how much the judges really know. "Hmm, who should win it this year? I know, Dreamworld! People always seem to like Dreamworld!"

Well 1st of all what has MW done to deserve it? (2) DW have regular after hrs events (screamworld) Does MW have this? So unless you attended the event or you know how the voting & or system works you've got no idea. To me it sounds like a biase comment towards MW. EDIT : The events that MW has just hosted (halloween) don't count as they are only one off's even though MW did it twice in a row. EDIT x 2 : The only thing DW has added is the flowrider. Edited November 18, 2006 by dreamworld_rulz

[lisalila]

Why on earth Dreamworld would win the Major Tourist Attraction for this year is beyond me. What have they done this year to deserve this? It should have gone to Movie World in my opinion. Just shows how much the judges really know. "Hmm, who should win it this year? I know, Dreamworld! People always seem to like Dreamworld!"

What have Movie done? They haven't added anything this year and I do remember DW adding the Flowrider (even though that's going to WWW now..it was still in DW). I prefer DW to MW because there's just more to do there, there's more rides, the park is bigger and it doesn't take less then 2 hours to do all the rides.

[Swanny]

What have Movie done? They haven't added anything this year and I do remember DW adding the Flowrider (even though that's going to WWW now..it was still in DW). I prefer DW to MW because there's just more to do there, there's more rides, the park is bigger and it doesn't take less then 2 hours to do all the rides.

Hmmmm.... http://www.parkz.com.au/forums/in...?showtopic=2593 Batwing is opening this year. And also, SE was opened 5 days before the beggining of this year and that is the equivalent of like 5 Flowriders.

[MickeyD]

I agree. Perhaps MW should have won but hey, they can't win it EVERY YEAR and they have won a lot of times before. It's a nice award for the Theme parks to imbelish their product but really at the end of the day, the real winners are the park's shattering attendance records and constantly building world class new rides and attractions. Not to say that DW isn't doing this but...

[lisalila]

Hmmmm.... http://www.parkz.com.au/forums/in...?showtopic=2593 Batwing is opening this year. And also, SE was opened 5 days before the beggining of this year and that is the equivalent of like 5 Flowriders.

Do you really count a unopened ride as something that should be counted in "adding a ride for this year"? perhaps once it opens you can say that?. Are the awards judged on the previous year? (so 06 awards judged on 05 stuff) if not then SE doesn't count, it was opened in 2005. I think once Batwing open's though MW will be great and will perhaps win it next year but they haven't opened anything this year; Dreamworld have...even if it is a ride like the flowrider. It WOULD be nice if DW added more rides like MW have/are. Edited November 18, 2006 by lisalila

[myk]

You don't get it Swanny, or GoGoBoy. Maybe to you the best theme park is the one with the biggest rides or the biggest thrills. But to many people who come to the Gold Coast for a holiday (which is their major market) they want a family day out. Dreamworld suits this MUCH better than Movie World. Dreamworld has more family rides plus 5 thrill rides to enjoy and even major kids rides, unlike MW which has 3 thrill rides, but one is as much of a family ride as a thrill ride, and all the rest are aged. Dreamworld is also more Australian than Movie World which is based off American movies. Dreamworld is also more iconic than Movie World. There is much more of a reason to award Dreamworld this year than any other themepark on the Gold Coast.

[Richard]

I'd recommend reading about how exactly they judge this competition, because it's clear from this discussion that there are some misconceptions regarding what this award is about. It's not a theme park award, it's a tourism industry award that is based on all aspects of the operation and how it contributes to the industry as a whole. When they judge the awards, they don't look at the same things we do. This award is given based largely on a submitted report. It focuses on the management techniques that go into the operation of the attraction and the strategies and plans they have in place. This isn't a "best tourist attraction" or "most popular tourist attraction" award, it's an industry-based award that promotes good tourism management practices. You can read about the outline for entering here: http://www.queenslandtourismawards.com.au/...attractions.pdf

[dreamworld_rulz]

I've just read the article on the front page about DW winning the award. It also had this. Dreamworld will sit out the Major Tourist Attraction award for the next two years as part of their induction into the Hall of Fame. This will give Australia Zoo and other major operators around Australia the chance to vie for the award. Well now all the Movieworld sooks can jump up & down with joy.

[Jack607]

Uh... are you trying to get praise or pushing dreamworld in the dirt? I'm just a tad confused..

[Richard]

I've merged the two award-related topics together.

Well now all the Movieworld sooks can jump up & down with joy.

Did you read the replies in this topic? Most people presented very valid arguments and regardless of whether or not you agree with them you have to accept their opinions. Calling people "Movieworld sooks" (don't let Adam see Movieworld either) because their opinion differs from yours is just plain immature.

[dreamworld_rulz]

I've merged the two award-related topics together. Did you read the replies in this topic? Most people presented very valid arguments and regardless of whether or not you agree with them you have to accept their opinions. Calling people "Movieworld sooks" (don't let Adam see Movieworld either) because their opinion differs from yours is just plain immature.

They are sooks coz they cried when DW won an award when they think DW didn't deserve it. Tell me why MW should win the award instead of DW?

[Richard]

You're not quite getting it are you? I'm not saying Movie World should have won the award. Reread this topic. A few members have said they believe Movie World should have received it, and then went ahead and backed up their view with a few well-thought arguments. It seems to me that you're the only one losing sleep over it, not the "sooks" who think Dreamworld shouldn't have won. If you want my opinion on the matter, WVTP winning the Tourism Development Award was the most appropriate acknowledgement of their recent strengths. Even though it only acknowledged the addition of Australian Outback Spectacular, the $65 million they spent on attractions shows a great commitment to developing the industry, especially considering it wasn't invested in a competitive way. I'd tip WhiteWater World to take the development award next year, even though it could to some extent be considered a cannibalistic attraction.

[dreamworld_rulz]

Trust me. I aint losing any sleep over it. But if that's the way you feel then that's up to you.

Edited November 21, 2006 by dreamworld_rulz