Marketing & Tourism Lecturer from Central Queensland University, Jillian Lister, has just returned from this year's prestigious Queensland Tourism Awards.

The 2002 Awards were held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday 29 November.

The Queensland Tourism Awards has a long and illustrious history in Queensland spanning more than 20 years.

Jillian was thrilled to be nominated and elected as a member on the panel for judging this year's awards. With 28 categories in total, the panel of 10 were kept busy in the months leading up to the annual event.

Vince O'Rourke (formerly of Queensland Rail) was appointed as Chairman of the judging panel. Mr O'Rourke has many years of industry experience and brought valuable knowledge and expertise to the awards judging process.

Joining Vince and Jillian on the panel were John Atkin - The Falls; Donna Campbell - Public Relations Manager, Conrad Jupiters; Mike Dwyer - Director/Owner, Travelworld; Penny Flynn - Business Development & Marketing Manager - Minter Ellison; Des Houghton - Features Editor, The Courier Mail; Steve Noakes - Adjunct Professor, School of Tourism & Leisure Management, University of Queensland; Peter Owen - Editor in Chief, Sunshine Coast Newspapers and Joe Spoats - The Rocks Historic Guesthouse.

Tourism Queensland was responsible for the sponsorship of the awards and the actual staging of the event while the Queensland Tourism Industry Council looked after the judging process.

Site visits were included as a part of the judging process for the first time, providing judges with more tools to assess entries rather than rely on written submissions alone.

"I was assigned to perform site inspections in Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast and also locally in Rockhampton. It was a great opportunity to meet employers and to get a feel for how each business operated and was portrayed. This year's awards attracted 258 nominations from across the state so it kept the panel quite busy with the judging process. All winners will be automatically entered into the Australian Tourism Awards," Jillian said.

Two Central Queensland tourism operators, Capricorn Caves and The LARC! 1770 Environments Tours were finalists on the night.

Tourism Minister Merri Rose said being a finalist meant they were considered amongst the best of the best tourism products in Queensland.

Ms Rose commended Capricorn Caves on its listing as a finalist in the Significant Tourist Attractions category.

"This category recognises tourist attractions of a state importance that significantly contribute to the tourism experience within their metropolitan or country region," she said.

"Capricorn Caves are the largest privately-owned show caves in Australia, making it a unique tourism attraction.

"This is a natural attraction that entertains and educates visitors about Queensland's precious natural environment and I am delighted to see an organisation such as this recognised as one of our best tourism products," Ms Rose said.

"This is not the first time The LARC! 1770 Environmental Tours has been mentioned in the awards," she said.

"1770 Environmental Tours has embraced the heritage of the region and been actively involved in promoting an understanding of conservation.

"The tours promise a good dose of Australian heritage and culture and I'm pleased to see such a great product among those recognised in the awards.

"It was great to see some Central Queensland operators being recognised in the awards but it would be even better if we could encourage more entries from the CQ Region to participate next year," said Jillian.

The Australian Tourism Awards will be held in February 2003.

Above: (left to right) Jillian Litster - Lecturer, School of Marketing & Tourism, Central Queensland University; Daniel Gschwind - Chief Executive, Queensland Tourism Industry Council; Kym Stephenson - Administration & Events Coordinator, Queensland Tourism Industry Council and Gary Smith - Chairman QTIC & Managing Director, Tourism Leisure Corp.

Left: (left to right) Jillian Lister and the Capricorn Caves representatives Aliesha Johnson - Cave employee and Ann Augustyn - Co-owner Capricorn Caves.