Novotel Twin Waters Resort has been recognised as the top venue in Queensland, taking home gold in the highly contested Business Event Venue category at the 2018 Queensland Tourism Awards, held on the Gold Coast on Friday night (16 November).
“We are beyond excited to receive the highly sought-after gold award in the Business Events category,” said Rachel Smith, Director of Sales & Marketing for Novotel Twin Waters Resort.
“The resort has had an incredible year, and winning this top award recognises all of the dedication and commitment of our team members here at Novotel Twin Waters Resort.”
Ms Smith, who oversees the business events unit at the resort, said the highly-experienced team had been focused for some time on positioning Novotel Twin Waters Resort as one of Australia’s most sought after conference, events and incentives venues.
“An idyllic location on the Sunshine Coast makes the Novotel one of the most adaptable business events venues in Australia,” she said. “Winning gold not only reinforces our decision to reinvigorate Novotel Twin Waters Resort in the coming months, but will help drive our passion to deliver exceptional new experiences for our incentive and conference partners in the coming year.”
The business event venue award was one of two major wins announced for Novotel Twin Waters Resort at the event, with the iconic Sunshine Coast property also named official hosting venue for the Queensland Tourism Awards gala event in 2019.
Ms Smith said, “Winning gold in our category aside securing the 2019 hosting venue rights is certainly cause for a dual celebration, however we are mindful that success like this is only made possible when destination partners come together and focus on collaboration rather than individual success. The Sunshine Coast is certainly making a strong name for itself on the events stage!”
Echoing Ms Smith’s enthusiasm, Novotel Twin Waters Resort General Manager, Steve Wellsteed, said, “We welcome this incredible vote of confidence from the Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC), and are thrilled that Novotel Twin Waters Resort has secured rights to host the prestigious 35th Queensland Tourism Awards at our new-build convention centre in 2019. It will be an absolute pleasure to host this event in this brand new venue and deliver a memorable night for Queensland’s top tourism talent and ambassadors.”
Mr Wellsteed added that since announcing the start of construction on the new purpose-built facility last month (October 2018), Novotel Twin Waters Resort’s convention centre had been extremely well received by both the local community and the wider business events industry.
“The resort has already confirmed a number of events for 2019 and beyond, and importantly has now attracted interest from events which had previously not considered the Sunshine Coast region,” he explained. “The Queensland Tourism awards gala will present an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to showcase the potential of this dynamic new venue for all of our tourism partners and supporters to experience, first hand.”
Novotel Twin Waters Resort owners, Shakespeare Property Group, has committed to investing more than $8 million to deliver the region its largest conventions venue within the iconic Novotel resort, and an additional $2 million in planned updates and improvements of public area and accommodation at the property.
Shakespeare Property Group’s investment comes at a time of renewed investment interest in the destination, including Bruce Highway updates for better accessibility from Brisbane, and new runway facilities for the nearby Sunshine Coast Airport to enhance the route for interstate travellers.
AccorHotels Vice President Operations QLD/NT, Matt Young, said, “We are delighted to hear that QTIC has selected our new convention centre at Novotel Twin Waters Resort to host its premier tourism event for the state. The resort was the number one conference facility for the AccorHotels group in Queensland last year, and is undergoing some truly exciting updates. I know the team will deliver an outstanding event and look forward to rolling out the red carpet for the industry’s best in 2019.”
Mr Young added that the awards will be perfectly timed to capitalise on some investments and updates shaping the destination in the year to come.
“It is a time of evolution and development for the tourism and events industry on the Sunshine Coast,” he said. “In recent years the event has only been hosted in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, so this announcement confirms the Sunshine Coast’s coming of age and ability to host world class events.”
Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson said securing the awards is a significant coup and has been achieved through the Business Events Assistance Program – a joint initiative of Sunshine Coast Council and Business Events Sunshine Coast, a division of Visit Sunshine Coast.
“Hosting these prestigious awards will be a great opportunity to showcase both our region and our ability to host a premium quality industry event like this one,” said Mayor Mark Jamieson.
“It’s our opportunity to show off the Sunshine Coast in all its glory – all of our amazing tourist attractions, the businesses, the beautiful local produce from across the region and the people within our community. It will also provide a significant economic benefit, given it is anticipated to attract over 1000 visitors to the Sunshine Coast for these awards”.
Novotel Twin Waters Resort and its management company, AccorHotels (the largest hotel operator in Queensland), are among QTICs most committed corporate partners.
QTIC is the peak industry body for tourism in Queensland, acting as “The Voice of Tourism”. QTIC is a non-government private sector, membership-based organisation representing the interests of the tourism and hospitality network across Queensland.
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