ANDREW Barr has congratulated the winners of the 2015 Canberra Region Tourism Awards announced this evening.

“The Major Festivals and Events category winner was the ACT Government’s Floriade 2014, which once again attracted a record attendance,” Andrew said.

“Other winners included the Canberra Airport with the Specialised tourism Services Award and Questacon – the National Science and Technology Centre that took out the Tourist Attractions Award.

“The awards celebrate the diverse Canberra region tourism experiences offered by an industry that contributes over $1.62 billion annually to the ACT economy and employs more than 14,700 Canberrans.

“The ACT Government, through VisitCanberra, supports the awards by funding and administering the awards process through the National Capital Attractions Association as well as providing a range of value added initiatives.”

The award winners are:

• Tourist Attractions – Questacon – the National Science and Technology Centre
• Major Festivals and Events – Floriade 2014
• Festivals and Events – 2015 National Folk Festival
• Specialised Tourism Services – Canberra Airport
• Visitor Information Services – Yass Valley Information Centre
• Standard Accommodation – Bush Capital Lodge
• Luxury Accommodation – Hotel Realm
• New Tourism Business – Avenue Hotel
• Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism – IHG ACT – Crowne Plaza & National Convention Centre Canberra
• Outstanding Contribution by an Individual – Jonathan Kobus
• Tourism Visitor Education – National Electoral Education Centre
• Young Achiever Award – Sunil Choudhary
• Visitor Experience Award – Four Winds Vineyard

“Congratulations to this year’s entrants who continue to strive for excellence and innovation. A vibrant tourism sector is essential to our visitor economy and as we aim to grow overnight tourism expenditure in the ACT to $2.5 billion by 2020,” Andrew said.

Tonight’s award winners will represent the Canberra Region at the Australian Tourism Awards in Melbourne in February.