Visit Hunter

Congratulations to our 5th and final Seek the Hunter winner, Anna Yuen from Sydney.

You are walking away with:
2 nights’ accommodation at Scone Motor Inn and a $100 gift voucher, thanks to Wyndham Estate Cellar Door.

Congratulations Anna!

One of our seekers has found their treasure. Congratulations to Jodie Davis!

You are walking away with:

A Hunter Valley Wine Tour for two thanks to Northern Highland Travel.

A mid-week hot air balloon flight over the Hunter Valley thanks to Balloon Aloft.

A 45-minute behind the scenes tour of the Newcastle Airport, thanks to Newcastle Airport.

Enjoy your tour of the Hunter thanks to Visit Hunter.

The Hunter region scored eleven awards at the prestigious 2010 NSW Tourism Awards last Friday night 19^th November at the Grand Pavilion, Rosehill Gardens, Sydney.

The Gala Event attended by nearly 700 industry members and guests enjoyed a fantastic night of fun, networking and entertainment, hosted by Sydney Weekender’s Mike Whitney and Erica Davis.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards were presented to winners across 30 categories with the Hunter taking out six gold, two silver and three bronze awards.

These outstanding results reflect not only the growth of the tourism industry, but the professionalism and world-class nature of the Hunter’s tourism products and services.

Tourism Hunter Executive Manager, Sheridan Ferrier, said “It’s wonderful to have our Hunter operators rewarded for their hard work and professionalism. We continue to deliver exceptional customer service standards here in the Hunter.”

National media were invited to attend a special event in Sydney last night, as the whole of the Hunter Region was there’s to explore all under one roof!

Media had the opportunity to seek the Hunter with local Hunter tourism operators and organisations from the following Hunter areas: Barrington Tops, Hunter Valley, lake Macquarie, Newcastle and Upper Hunter Country.

You may ‘seek’ a few more articles in the paper on the Hunter soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

Did you know the Hunter is the second most popular regional area in Australia for people wanting a day out?

This is great news for the Hunter – visitor numbers to the area just keep getting bigger and better for our humble area.  This means more money is being generated in the Hunter, which is great for businesses and consumers.

So, tell your friends and family to come Visit the Hunter. Trust me, you’ll love it!

Four restaurants in the Hunter receive recognition at the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards 2010.

Rock Restaurant was recognised as one of two of the regional restaurants to receive the two hats. The Rock Restaurant is located in Pokolbin and brings a new dining benchmark to the Hunter.

Bacchus restaurant which was awarded one hat is located in Newcastle. Bacchus possesses elegance and is reminiscent of the Victorian era’s grace and charm. The fine dining menu is French and Mediterranean inspired with the best of Australian seasonal produce.

Another exceptional restaurant to dine in the Hunter which also received one hat is the Bistro Molines located at Mount View. Bistro Molines is a gorgeous intimate venue which has an ambience reminiscent of a trip to Provincial France.

One of Pokolbin’s newest Restaurants, Muse, has already received an one hat award. Restaurant Muse was established in March 2009 by Megan and Troy Rhoades-Brown. Muse Restaurant and Café opened with the vision of serving high class, contemporary Australian food and wine at a reasonable price in a comfortable and elegant location.

Executive Manager, Sheridan Ferrier said, “All four restaurants have performed extremely well to be recognised for these prestigious awards. We hope these achievements inspire more Hunter restaurants to strive for excellence and make the Hunter a world-class dining destination.”

For further information/quotes, contact Sheridan Ferrier, Executive Manager, Tourism Hunter on 0437 478 393

Well, Australia has managed to get the queen of talkback TV to come down under, but if she was to come to the Hunter, what would you suggest for her to do here?

She could visit the country’s oldest wine region and sample our world famous Shiraz and Semillon in the Hunter Valley, step into the magic of Morpeth, sipping high tea by the peaceful Hunter River, or visit Lake Macquarie and be blown away by the awe-inspiring lake; 4 times larger than Sydney Harbour.

She could mount a trusty steed around the foothills of the Murrurundi Ranges, crown of the Upper Hunter, for a true country experience.

Can you think of what else she could get up to in the Hunter? Let us know on our Facebook or Twitter pages at the links below.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/Visit-Hunter/134029073300661

Twitter: http://twitter.com/VisitTheHunter

Did you know…

1. Newcastle has produced more dancers than any other city for the Australian Ballet Company.
2. Stockton Bight is the largest sand dune mass in the Southern Hemisphere.
3. Lake Macquarie is over four times the size of Sydney Harbour: 24 km long with 174 km of foreshore.
4. Barrington Tops covers more than 80,000 hectares of rainforests, mountains and rivers.
5. Hunter Valley Wine Country’s Semillon is known as the ‘unique gift to the world’.
6. Scone, in the Upper Hunter is the Horse Capital of Australia.
7. Lake St Clair in Singleton has a dam wall of 67 metres high, which is as tall as the highest sail on the Sydney Opera House, and when full, the lake has a surface area of 1540 hectares, or more than 2000 football fields.
8. Morpeth, just outside of Maitland has been known to have spirits of the past to still inhabit the town today.

The Hunter Central Coast Tourism Awards were a great success last night. Congrats to all Tourism winners!

Health & Wellbeing Tourism – Shoal Bay Resort and Spa

Adventure Tourism – Balloon Aloft

Tour and or Transport Operators – Activity Tours Australia

Specialised Tourism Services – Newcastle Airport

Heritage and Cultural Tourism – Tocal Homestead

Ecotourism – Blackbutt Reserve

Tourism Wineries – Wyndham Estate

Tourism Education and Training – Hunter Valley Hotel Academy – TAFE

Tourist Pubs – Caves Beachside Hotel

Tourism Marketing – Barrington Tops Tourism Initiative

Festivals and Events – Christmas Lights Spectacular Hunter Valley Gardens

Meetings and Business Tourism – Shoal Bay Resort and Spa

Major Tour and or Transport Operators – Northern Highland Travel

Tourism Restaurants and Catering Services – Margan Restaurant

Tourist & Caravan Parks – Halifax Holiday Park

New Tourism Development – Treetop Adventure Park

Hosted Accommodation – Christina’s Bed and Breakfast

Unique Accommodation – Segenhoe Inn Boutique Hotel & Bed & Breakfast

Standard Accommodation – Scone Motor Inn

Deluxe Accommodation – The Vintry Country House & Vineyard

Young Achiever in Tourism Award – Rebecca Wilson

Outstanding Contribution to Regional Tourism by an Individual – Mary Rayner

Outstanding Contribution by an Individual – Andrew Margan

Check out our exciting new website! www.visithunter.com.au. It’s your complete and interactive guide to the Hunter!

The Visit Hunter website is the collaboration of all Hunter Local Tourism Associations. Visit Hunter will be the hub of information for the Hunter area linking to existing tourism region websites.

This exciting project endeavours to not only increase tourism in the Hunter Region and create new opportunities for each individual area but further develop and create strong relationships with the broader community.

We’d love to know what you think of our new website! Come check us out today and plan your next Hunter getaway or fun activity!