Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa wins at Australian Hotels Association Awards
Released
on: May 13, 2010, 9:35 am
Author:
Emirates Hotels & Resorts
Industry:
Travel
Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, Australia's first
conservation-based luxury resort, has received the Outstanding
Contribution to Tourism Award as well as Best Environment Initiative
and Regional Deluxe Accommodation of the Year in the annual Australian
Hotels Association (NSW) Accommodation Awards for Excellence.
Wolgan Valley was presented the awards at a gala dinner, attended by dignitaries and
600 of the industry's business leaders and members. Now in its thirteenth year,
these prestigious Awards recognise the leaders in hospitality and honour the
achievements of excellence in a wide range of categories in the accommodation
industry.
Tony Williams Senior Vice President, Emirates Hotels & Resorts said: "With Wolgan
Valley it was always Emirates' intention to showcase the enormous tourism potential
in Australia; and careful, deliberate efforts were made to ensure the resort
highlighted the luxury experiences available in Australia, and grow this sector of
the market. We are certainly very pleased to have our commitments recognised in this
manner."
Joost Heymeijer, General Manager, Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa added: "It is a great
honour to receive these awards. Wolgan Valley has only been open six months, and to
win such prestigious awards, and be recognised by our industry colleagues and peers
is an enormous achievement for the resort and Emirates."
Wolgan Valley's awards in the competitive categories of Best Environment Initiative
and Regional Deluxe Accommodation of the Year cements the Emirates Hotels &
Resorts' property on the Australian tourism landscape. The Blue Mountains resort was also honoured
in a new award category launched in 2010 for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism
which acknowledges the resort's unique place in the industry and its ability to set
new standards and benchmarks in the Australian industry.
Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa will go onto the AHA National Awards which will be
presented in September this year.
Since its October 2009 opening, the luxury Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa in Australia has been acclaimed by
Conde Nast US and Conde Nast UK, National Trust Heritage Awards, and Luxury Travel
Magazine as the world’s “most desired newly opened hotel/resort”. With Emirates
Hotels & Resorts, it was also nominated in the World Travel & Tourism Council's "Tourism for Tomorrow" Awards.
Combining the expectations of the high-end traveller with a commitment to broader
social, ecological and environmental sustainability, the Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa
in the Blue Mountains
is redefining what traditional luxury means to travellers.
Located between two of Australia's most prominent national parks, and bordering the
Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Wolgan Valley was selected by Emirates after
extensive research for a location that lent itself to world-class conservation-based
practices. The secluded resort also incorporates the 'Timeless Spa' branded
facility offering guests world-class spa treatments in a luxurious setting
commanding views of the spectacular the valley below and some of the best Wildlife
Safaris in Australia.
The resort has recently become the first hotel in the world to achieve carbon
neutral certification from an internationally accredited greenhouse gas
certification scheme. Wolgan Valley Conservation Resort in Australia is
also a proud member of Leading Hotels of the World, the world's largest luxury
hospitality organisation, representing more than 450 of the finest hotels, resorts
and spas.
ENDS
About Emirates Hotels & Resorts:
Emirates Hotels & Resorts is Emirates Airline's premier hospitality management
division comprising a growing portfolio of award-winning luxury conservation-based
resorts,and lifestyle Spas.
For over 10 years, Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa has showcased the success of Emirates
Hotels & Resorts' conservation-based philosophy. The same philosophy is followed at
the other two Emirates Hotels & Resorts conservation-based properties; the Wolgan
Valley Resort & Spa in Australia's Blue Mountains, which opened in October, and at
the Cap Ternay Resort & Spa in the Seychelles, which is now under planning.
The Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve and the Wolgan Valley Wildlife Conservancy,
where Al Maha and Wolgan Valley are respectively located, are sponsored by Emirates
and under the management of Emirates Hotels & Resorts.
Global media contact:
Chiara Sarzi Amade
Emirates Corporate Communications
New EGHQ
5th Floor
Opposite DXB Airport
P O Box 686
Dubai
United Arab Emirates
(+9714) 708 2171
www.ekgroup.com/mediacentre
http://www.emirateshotelsresorts.com/