The South Australian Tourism Awards are held annually and form part of the Australian Tourism Awards. Nationally, the Awards process aims to recognise and promote excellence in tourism.

Since the state awards were implemented in 1983 the diversity and calibre of entrants has matched the vitality and growing professionalism of the industry. The range of categories has evolved to reflect the changes that have occurred within the industry. The Awards are a submission and site visit based competition for tourism businesses and industry suppliers. The Awards Presentation and Gala Dinner provides the opportunity to publicly recognise and showcase this state's finest tourism operators.

Aims
The Awards aim to:

• Encourage and celebrate creativity, professionalism and innovation among South Australia’s tourism
  operators.
• Support improved business planning, development and internal analysis among tourism operators.
• Provide a benchmark for best practice within the tourism industry..
• Continuous improvement and raising of standards.
• Publicly recognise and reward excellence.
• Reinforce the value of the tourism industry.
• Reinforce consumer confidence in the tourism industry.
• Promote an annual platform of celebration for the industry and offer networking opportunities for operators.
• Provide a better South Australian visitor experience.

Why enter
Entering the South Australian Tourism Awards provides an opportunity for you to:

• Review goals and record achievements
• Benchmark against other professionals
• Showcase your success to the industry and public
• Contribute to raising standards within the tourism industry
• Receive recognition of excellence by your peers
• Raise the profile and awareness of your business
• Provide a potential marketing advantage and increased business
  

Who chooses award winners
State judging is conducted by a panel of industry peers appointed by the South Australian Tourism Commission. The panel comprises a cross-section of tourism industry experts, some of whom are former award winners. Judges are selected for their knowledge and experience, and for their willingness to commit time to the Awards process. The panel operates independently to the South Australian Tourism Commission and is convened each year specifically for the Tourism Awards. Judges are grouped in teams of three, but independently review and score submissions. Each group assesses approximately five categories.

Independent assessment assured
Professional auditors oversee the South Australian and Australian Tourism Awards judging process. Their role is to audit submissions for compliance, audit score sheets and check conflicts of interest and confidentiality declarations.

The Awards

Depending on the standard of entry, entrants may be acknowledged with a gold, silver or bronze medal. The winner (the entrant with the highest score) in each category will go on to contest the Australian Tourism Awards in Melbourne in February 2009.

	Winner Awarded to the entry which is judged to be the most outstanding in its category.
	Gold Medal Presented to entries of a very high standard, where the judging panel awards the entrant a score of 90% or higher.
	Silver Medal Presented to entries of a high standard, where the judging panel awards the entrant a score of 80% or higher.
	Bronze Medal Presented to entries of a very good standard, where the judging panel awards the entrant a score of 75% or higher.
	Hall of Fame Awarded to an entrant winning the same category three years in a row. They will be acknowledged for their achievements for a three-year period, during which they are still able to contest the state awards.

Hall of Fame
Congratulations to our current Hall of Fame champions.

• Adelaide Shores Caravan Resort 2003, 2004, 2005
• Adelaide Central YHA 2003, 2004, 2005
• Quality Houseboats 2003, 2004, 2005
• Temptation Sailing 2004, 2005, 2006
• Kangaroo Island SeaLink 2004, 2005, 2006
• Getaways Reservation Service 2004, 2005, 2006
• Adelaide Shores Holiday Village 2004, 2005, 2006
• The Sebel Playford Adelaide 2004, 2005, 2006
• Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary 2005, 2006, 2007
• Clipsal 500 Adelaide 2005, 2006, 2007
• Seppeltsfield Vineyard Cottage 2005, 2006, 2007