By Brendan Rees
Moonlit Sanctuary has won top awards as a leader in tourism excellence.
The Pearcedale wildlife sanctuary took out two accolades including Ecotourism and Tourist Attraction at the RACV Victorian Tourism Awards Gala Ceremony on Thursday 22 November.
Home to more than 400 native animals including kangaroos, koalas, reptiles, birds and rare species, Moonlit Sanctuary gives visitors the opportunity to enjoy close encounters with native Australian wildlife in distinctive day and night experiences.
The Tourism Awards is the tourism and events industry’s night of nights, celebrating winners across 30 categories for their outstanding contributions to the industry.
Founder and director Michael Johnson said the sanctuary was thrilled with their win.
“I think it’s a fantastic recognition of all the hard work we’ve been putting in and the significance of Moonlit in the local community now as a tourism attraction,” he said.
“Particularly, we’re pleased with the Tourism Attraction award because that’s a very hard fought one.”
Mr Johnson attributes their success to the quality of the sanctuary’s presentation.
“Commitment to conservation is very important and the fact that we work hard to make sure our standards are at the highest level possible to make a great experience for our visitors,” he said.
He added a “big part on the conservation front” was their Orange-bellied Parrot Breeding for Recovery program. “For the first time we’ve had an increase in numbers of birds in Melaleuca in Tasmania for the breeding season.”
