Solid Gold: wukalina Walk wins big at Tas Tourism Awards

You may have heard we won gold at the Tasmanian Tourism Awards in the category of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Tourism. To say we’re proud is an understatement. The gala event was held on Murwinina Country, at West Point, on Friday evening, 5 November.

Clyde Mansell and Graeme Gardner performed the Welcome to Country, accompanied by Jam Graham-Blair on stage.

Since that evening we’ve had a huge influx of messages of support and congratulations by our community, families, friends, colleagues, heroes and other supporters. Thank you everyone - it means so much.

This is a huge win for the palawa/pakana community here in lutruwita (Tasmania). As founder Clyde Mansell says in interview with event host Caity Walker on the night: “This is about showing what Aboriginal people can achieve and what the community can do when it’s given an opportunity to direct its own way and do it as it sees fit”.

jake Brown, Graeme Gardner, Jam Graham-Blair, Hank Horton, Melissa West, Gill Parssey, Clyde Mansell, Carleeta Rose Helen Thomas, Tananger Peet

We’re grateful for the guests who have walked with us across homeland and taken the time to spend time with us, listen and allow us to share our culture in a place it’s been practised for thousands of generations.

Without the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania there would be no awards so thank you to the TICT and all the support and mentorship received during the award writing process.

Congratulations to all other winners.

This automatically puts us up for a Tourism Australia award… so watch this space. Awards night is in March 2022 on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, and we look forward to being there and meeting, especially, with other Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander tour operators from around the country.

Regardless of the outcomes, we know that we continue to make our Ancestors proud.