Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry Awards

Hawke's Bay Tourism Industry Association Award Winners 2012
Sept 21 2012

Over 200 tourism operators celebrated at the inaugural Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry Awards last night at the Skyline Aviation hangar at Hawke’s Bay Airport.

Twenty six local businesses entered the awards, and a panel of judges whittled the list down to three winners. The three winning businesses will proceed to a new tourism category in the Chamber of Commerce Awards in November.

The top three finalists were Birdwoods Gallery & Sweet Shop, Hawthorne House and The Dome Apartments. All three businesses represented excellence in their respective businesses and the judges were unanimous with the selection of the three finalists.

The judging panel consisted of Peter Blackwell (General Manager of AA Tourism), Dave Simmons (General Manager, Online & Leisure at Air NZ), Jenny Robertson (Head of the Tourism & Hospitality School at EIT) and Stuart Webster (partner at Sainsbury Logan & Williams and director of Hawke’s Bay Airport).

Birdwoods Gallery & Sweet Shop
“This business has passion, vision, imagination, hard-work, common sense and intuition. There seems little doubt that the Birdwoods team exemplify this” says Peter Blackwell General Manager AA Travel.

Hawthorne House
“Hawthorne House is a business that is all about great attention to detail. This incredibly welcoming establishment offers superb customer service and goes the extra mile for every guest. Owner Mike Lewis has developed new marketing initiatives in the off-season which has raised his local and national profile as well as improving his off-season business”, says Jenny Robertson, EIT.

The Dome Apartments
“The Dome entry is driven by the marketing opportunity it presents. The business, the marketing and profile of the Dome are the result of a dedicated focus on process. The business feels slick, fluent and streamlined” says Peter Blackwell General Manager AA Travel.

All twenty-six entries represented a wide cross-section of the various types of operators that make up the tourism industry in Hawke’s Bay. From boutique accommodation, motels and hotels to galleries, wineries, markets and adventure operators, the entries were of a very high quality and are a great testament to the passionate and engaged people who are involved in running them. Each entry’s commitment and dedication to their business and the region is to be applauded.

Sam Orton, Chairman of the Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry Association (HBTIA) said “This is the first year we have held these awards and we are really delighted with the high calibre of entrants. The overall support of the tourism industry has been phenomenal and it was great to see such a huge crowd celebrating regional tourism”

The inaugural Hawke’s Bay Tourism Industry Awards have been supported by Hawke's Bay Today, Skyline Aviation, Indelible, Sight & Sound Services, Nimon & Sons, Eastern Institute of Technology, Hawke’s Bay Airport, Endeavour Foundation, Orton Catering and Hawke’s Bay Tourism.

The Top Three Finalists who go on to The Chamber of Commerce Awards November 1st.
• Birdwoods Gallery & Sweet Shop
• Hawthorne House
• The Dome Apartments

The Top Ten Finalists
• Bay View Snapper Holiday Park
• Birdwoods Gallery & Sweet Shop
• Giant’s Winery – Craggy Range
• Elephant Hill Winery & Restaurant
• Hastings City Art Gallery
• Hawthorne House
• Kennedy Park Top 10 Resort
• Mohaka Rafting
• Odyssey New Zealand
• The Dome Apartments

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