The Australian Society of Travel Writers (ASTW) has announced Destination NSW as the Strategic Sponsor for the 2024 ASTW Awards for Excellence.

The awards honour Australia’s leading travel media and have been a highlight of the ASTW calendar for more than 30 years. The winners will be revealed at a gala dinner in the Hunter Valley on 31 October 2024.

Among the 22 awards to be presented at the Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort ballroom will be the prestigious Travel Writer of the Year, Travel Photographer of the Year and Travel Communicator of the Year accolades – the latter designed for public relations specialists – along with awards for the best individual stories in categories such as cruising, travel and food writing, family travel and travel sustainability.

Destination NSW is a major sponsor of the awards dinner, which will see some 80 travel writers, photographers, content producers and communicators travel to the Hunter Valley this spring.

The travel media will also partake in a program of local tours, which will highlight the Hunter’s amazing wines and wineries, food, restaurants and natural landscapes.

A two-hour drive from Sydney, the Hunter Valley is NSW’s most visited regional area for day-trippers, attracting some 7.27 million trips in the year ending March 2024 – a figure that represents a 5.3 per cent growth on the same period last year.

"Destination NSW is proud to support the Australian Society of Travel Writers Convention through our Business Events NSW program, which aims to attract high-profile conferences to regional NSW," said Destination NSW CEO Steve Cox.

"We are thrilled to welcome more overnight visitors to the Hunter Valley this October, where they can experience the perfect blend of professional engagement and local exploration.

“Business events offer more than just work – they provide opportunities to experience world-class food and wine, boost local businesses and contribute to the growth of our $50 billion NSW visitor economy."

ASTW president Caroline Gladstone thanked Destination NSW for its generous contribution to the event, which will be attended not only by society members but representatives of many of the Hunter Valley’s acclaimed producers and winemakers.

“Our annual Awards for Excellence is a hotly-contested program of awards that attracts more than 600 entries every year – from our first-class writers, photographers, videographers, bloggers and PR executives. We are thrilled that Destination NSW has partnered with us to help bring this evening to fruition.”

She said ASTW members, who are based in all Australian states, were excited to be visiting the Hunter Valley.

“The ASTW holds it convention in a different city, or region, each year. This is the first time in our 50-year history we’ve held it in the Hunter – Australia’s oldest wine region, and it’s great we’ll have the opportunity to see and taste all it has to offer.”

The ASTW Convention will take place at the Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort Pokolbin from 30 October to 1 November 2024. Before and after the event, the society’s writer, photographer and blogger delegates will take part in a variety of local tours where they’ll gather new ideas and insights for a wealth of newspaper and magazine stories to promote the region.

“The community benefits and exposure of hosting a convention are far reaching,” Gladstone noted, revealing stories from the previous convention – held in the Tweed region of NSW in late 2022 – helped shine a light not only on the destination but the businesses, tour operators and producers within.

The Australian Society of Travel Writers is a 250-strong association of travel media, which formed in 1975, with the aim to promote ethical and “without fear or favour” travel reporting. These aims continue to be upheld today.