A Moustache, No Speech, No Clue!
Our loyal Kimberleylanders will be well aware of our FOUR Silver Tourism Awards Medals we've won. Yep, four in a row from 2015 - 2018. Silver is a great accolade to achieve but we were simply never able to snag that glistening Gold Medal Award.
After opting out of participating in the Awards in 2019 and the cancellation of the Awards in 2020, the question arose in 2021.... would we nominate for this year's Tourism Awards??
With a quartet of Silver we didn't really feel the need to "win" again.
But we did have a story to tell.
Covid meant we hit the lowest of lows in 2020 and not without challenges, the busiest season on record in 2021.
We didn't want this experience to go unrecorded, so we decided to share our story and enter the WA Tourism Awards.
Most years just a few Caravan and Holiday Parks manage to secure a Finalist position. When the 2021 Finalists were announced there were SIX high quality finalists!
Firstly, the multi-gold winning RAC Parks who have invested into some huge capital works programs into WA - good on them! Then there was Cheynes Beach Caravan Park and their National Gold List Award... Our great friends, the Cocking Family up in Lancelin with their amazing new Experience Lancelin Holiday Park and another multi Award-Winning Park Coral Coast Tourist Park in Carnarvon.
We had no hope of winning, we conceded.
That was ok with us, winning was not our primary goal. Our 2020/21 story was recorded, it was shared... that was enough. We took the opportunity to relieve ourselves of the November heat to head down to the Awards Nights to celebrate amongst our peers and industry at the Gala Dinner.
Chris was sporting his Movember moustache. There was no speech prepared. I nearly left early.
And then the Caravan & Holiday Park Category was introduced. We clapped and cheered for our Industry, curiously wondering if we might be able to go home with at least a Silver or Bronze?....
First up, Bronze. It was awarded to RAC Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort. Wow, that set the standard high.
Next up, the Silver. We have four of them remember so we have a soft spot for this Medal. Cheynes Beach Caravan Park. They have a solid customer service reputation, I thought they might've taken out the Gold.
Our concession that we wouldn't win meant our hearts didn't even beat any faster when they went to announce the Gold.
Then came the announcement.....
"Kimberleyland Waterfront Holiday Park in Kununurra!"
Wait, what? Everyone at our table jumped up and cheered. We couldn't believe it! Chris whispered to me, "Have you got a speech?" I replied, "Nup, and you're up buddy!"
After accepting the Award and taking the official photos, Chris took his 11 day old Movember Moustache up onto stage to do an impromptu speech. I have no recollection of what he said but I'm sure it was good!
We were showered with genuine excitement and congratulations from the whole crew from Experience Lancelin and Cheynes Beach Caravan Park. It's such a great industry network with so much support from one another. The G'Day Parks Network that we belong to makes it even tighter!
What made the night even better was sharing the excitement with HeliSpirit who won the Major Tours and Transport Operators Gold Award and a Silver in Adventure Tourism.
And for one final blast for the night - came the award for the Sir David Brand Award.... all the Category Winners were invited on the stage for the 'overall winner' and major contributor to Tourism. It also went to HeliSpirit who whole heartedly deserve it for their massive contribution to Tourism.
We were all pretty stoked, as you can tell!
So what's next? The Nationals are being held in Queensland in March 2022. We're really looking forward to another night of celebrating Tourism. And no, we won't be preparing a speech.
