Sailaway takes major honour at Queensland Tourism Awards

Queensland Tourism Awards

Jereme Lane

Journalist

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Port Douglas based tour operator, Sailaway has won a major award at the state’s tourism awards on Friday night and took the bronze prize in another prestigious category.

The luxury sailing and snorkelling tour operator won Gold in the Tour & Transport Operators category, which represents a major coup for Far North operators in the statewide awards.

Sailaway owner Steve Edmondson told Newsport despite it being a tough year they always try to stay positive.

“We’ve been through a lot of difficult times but we have a great team and we just try our best everyday and we’re delighted to come out with this award, it means a lot to us.

Edmondson also stressed that there are blue skies ahead and there’s plenty to look forward to in 2022.

“The day before the Queensland Tourism Awards in Brisbane there were 850 people for Destination Q Conference at the convention centre. It was a breath of fresh air to have so many people from the industry together and looking forward to bigger and better things next year,” Edmondson said.

Sailaway also took Bronze in a separate category, the Steve Irwin Award for Eco-tourism, a prestigious category that was won by Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort.

We care about two things greatly, people and the environment, and we’ve been able to confirm it with this award and we’re so delighted and humbled. We have a hugely privileged opportunity as the tourism industry to lift the sustainability game.

Moving forward Edmondson also told Newsport that Sailaway is actively recruiting again despite having retained the core of his staff over the last few tough months.

“We’ve managed to keep our staff, who will all be fully vaccinated by 17th December, and we’re going to get busier again so looking for more skilled and experienced crew to join our winning team”

“Now that everything is opening, it’s up to us to do our part by getting vaccinated to protect the community. We’ve been very lucky to have avoided the worst of it up until now but it’s our chance to show our appreciation and a big welcome to the rest of Australia by being ready for travellers to come and visit our beautiful region with confidence”

Sailaway owner Steve Edmondson collects the award on Friday night. Image: supplied

  

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