On a winner: Students from Devon Meadows Primary School awaken the garden at last year’s opening of the award-winning Australian Garden. THE Australian Garden has taken out yet another tourism award.
The $14.5 million garden, featuring more than 100,000 Australian plants and trees, has achieved many accolades since opening last May after it was the first garden of its scale to open in Victoria in 150 years.
At the Australian Tourism Award announced on Friday night the garden, at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, was named Best New Development.
The garden was one of eight Victorian tourism operators nominated on the night.
Victorian businesses graced the awards, winning more than any other state in the country and nearly a third of all the awards on offer.
State Minister for Tourism Tim Holding said this was a significant achievement as Queensland and New South Wales had larger tourism industries.
“These businesses are the cream of Victoria’s tourism industry and have done exceptionally well to be named among the nation’s best against tough competition from all the other states and territories,” Mr Holding said.
A total of 800 tourism operators and industry leaders from across Australia attended the Australian Tourism Awards presentation in Sydney, 87 of them from Victoria.
