Gourmet Escape Australia’s best tourism event
Margaret River Gourmet Escape has taken out one of Australia’s top event accolades, Best Tourism Event, at the Australian Event Awards ceremony on the Gold Coast this week. Festival operator IMG Culinary accepted the tourism prize.
Now in its fifth year, Margaret River Gourmet Escape continues to grow as a premier global culinary event, attracting international chefs and personalities such as Heston Blumenthal, Rene Redzepi, Marco Pierre White, Massimo Bottura, Antonio Carluccio, David Chang and Rick Stein.
The popular culinary festival is supported by the through Tourism Western Australia’s Regional Events Program, made possible by Royalties for Regions. Premier and Tourism Minister Colin Barnett said the festival was a major success story for the State’s economy.
“In just a few short years, Margaret River Gourmet Escape has become a powerful brand in the culinary world, lifting Margaret River and WA’s profile as a premium food and wine destination. This is really powerful when marketing the State to potential visitors to increase on the 400,000 food and wine enthusiasts who travel to WA each year. Margaret River Gourmet Escape is a key component of the State Government’s Taste 2020 strategy to boost food and wine tourism.”
The 2015 event resulted in 23,000 room nights booked in the South-West, more than $7.8 million in expenditure in the region and more than $6.5 million worth of global brand awareness for WA. “With the UK’s Nigella Lawson confirmed for this year’s Margaret River Gourmet Escape, this popularity is set not only to continue, but to grow,” Mr Barnett said.
The 2016 Gourmet Escape, presented by Audi, will run over three days in November, from 18th – 20th. Visiting stars include British TV cook ad TV personality Nigella Lawson, wine critic and author James Halliday, David Thompson of Nahm in Bangkok, and Frank Camorra of MoVida in Melbourne.
For more information, visit http://www.gourmetescape.com.au