The Australian Reptile Park has celebrated winning Gold in the ‘Major Tourist Attraction’ category at the Australian Tourism Awards earlier this year.
An event was held this week at the Central Coast attraction, which was attended by Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, Minister for Gaming and Racing, Minister for Veterans, Minister for Medical Research and Minister for the Central Coast David Harris, Member for Robertson Dr Gordon Reid, Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch.
Visitor economy associates and businesses that collaborate with the wildlife park also joined the festivities.
Mr Harris said: “The Australian Reptile Park truly is the jewel in the tourism crown of the wonderful Central Coast.
“Huge congratulations to park owners John Weigel AM, Robyn Weigel, Tim Faulkner and Liz Gabriel and your teams for winning the prestigious 2023 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards Gold Award.
“This award is testament to the park being an enormous contributor to the region on so many levels: economic, conservation, education and the unique snake and spider venom-milking program that saves the lives of hundreds of Australians every year.
“The accolade not only highlights the park’s success as a business, it further enhances the reputation of our region as a top tourism destination.”
Being the Australian Reptile Park, many animals were also in attendance to meet all the guests, including koalas, reptiles and the park's current most famous residents, 'Bluey' and 'Bandit' the dingo pups.
Australian Reptile Park Director Liz Gabriel said: “It’s truly amazing to be recognised for all of our hard work and efforts we put into providing an incredible family day out. We love our animals and staff more than anything and awards like this are truly humbling.
“We provide excellence in wildlife tourism and conservation, and we’ve done that for the past 75 years. Through our lifesaving snake and spider venom milking program, our conservation activities through Aussie Ark, and of course, providing a fantastic family experience in nature, we’re proud to be such a well-rounded organisation.”
The Australian Reptile Park is a hands-on zoo located in a natural bush setting on the Central Coast.
Learn more here: www.reptilepark.com.au.
World-class attractions such as Australian Reptile Park are key to boosting international and domestic visitation to NSW. The latest data from Tourism Research Australia shows the Central Coast was one of the powerhouses for visitor economy growth in the year ending March 2024, with domestic overnight visitation up 11.2 per cent year on year.
