Saturday 27 November 2004

Dreamworld Takes Out Top Tourism Award

Dreamworld has been named the Gold Coast’s leading tourism operator at the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards announced last night (Saturday 20/11).

The park took out the Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation category for its exemplary business practice, overall tourism experience and performance over the past 12 months.

Accepting the award at the gala presentation at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Dreamworld’s General Manager of Sales and Marketing Paul Sergeant said the entire Dreamworld team was delighted and humbled to receive the accolade.

“To be judged as one of the best in the business is certainly a great honour,” Mr Sergeant said.

“The award is a credit to our staff who work tirelessly to grow the tourism experience for the Gold Coast and Queensland as a whole.

“Their dedication ensures Dreamworld is much more than just a theme park. We are a registered zoo, a conservation and breeding centre, a multi-media broadcast and production centre, one of the country’s largest interactive classrooms and Australia’s leading specialty events venue.

“Big Brother, Nick Central and the park’s all new thrill ride, The Claw, have contributed to our success in recent years. The benefits then filter through to the Gold Coast community with most of our staff and suppliers based locally.”

The nine year old Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards seek to recognise exemplary business practice on the Gold Coast and heighten the awareness of quality and depth of business in the region.

Dreamworld Crowned Queensland's Top Tourist Attraction

Dreamworld was crowned Queensland’s number one Major Tourist Attraction at the Queensland Tourism Awards announced at the Gold Coast Convention Centre last night.

For the third year in a row, the park also took out the Tourism Product Marketing award, gaining automatic entry into the Hall of Fame.

Accepting the awards, Dreamworld CEO Stephen Gregg said the park was very humbled by the accolades.

“To win two awards and be inducted into the hall of fame on the one night is almost unheard of,” Mr Gregg said.

“It tops off a brilliant year for the park with great financial results and the opening of our all-new white-knuckle thrill ride, The Claw.

“During the awards period, we achieved significant results in terms of promoting the Queensland brand and achieving growth in overall domestic and international visitor numbers to Dreamworld and the destination.

“These results translated to the park’s and Queensland’s bottom line with increases in attendance, revenue and profit on the prior year.

“All the credit goes to our staff who work tirelessly to deliver an unforgettable experience for our guests.

“We are very honoured to wear the crown for Queensland and have our fingers tightly crossed to repeat the success when we represent the state in the national awards early next year.”

The Major Tourist Attraction award recognised Dreamworld as much more than a theme park. Dreamworld is an entertainment phenomenon, a thrill-seekers paradise, a multi-media production and broadcast centre, an educational interactive wildlife sanctuary and zoo, one of the country’s largest interactive classrooms and Australia’s leading specialty events venue.

Meanwhile, Dreamworld’s ‘So Many Worlds in One’ campaign, leveraging big name brands like Big Brother and Nickelodeon, clinched the Tourism Product Marketing award for the park.