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 2022 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,” he 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.”

Port Fairy was one of three Victorian towns in the overall awards – ahead of them, Exmouth in Western Australia took out the Gold for Top Small Tourism Town, with Sheffield in Tasmania winning Silver.

Bendigo won Silver in the Top Tourism Town and Mount Macedon was awarded Bronze in the Tiny Tourism Town category.

Victoria Tourism Industry Council chief executive, Felicia Mariani, said all three of Victoria’s finalists won an award in each of their respective categories, the best performance of any state.

“Congratulations to the dedicated teams from Bendigo, Port Fairy and Mount Macedon,” she said.

“This national recognition is well-deserved and we’re all so proud of you.

“Regional Victoria is known for its unique tourism offerings featuring the best of our cultural, nature-based and culinary experiences. It is great to see the effort of our winners recognised as they continue to build their reputations as must-visit destinations for tourists.”

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 planes through to the coast.”