Gold: The Northern Rivers Rail Trail
Category: Tourist Attraction

The Northern Rivers Rail Trail (NRRT) has claimed Gold in the Tourist Attractions category at the prestigious NSW Tourism Awards, cementing its place as one of the State’s most outstanding visitor experiences. This achievement is a testament to excellence, hard work, and unwavering dedication to providing outstanding experiences that elevate the tourism industry.

As a Gold Winner, the Rail Trail now automatically progresses as a finalist to the 2024 Australian Tourism Awards, to be held in Adelaide in March 2025.

The Northern Rivers Rail Trail has officially earned accreditation as a sustainable tourism business under the Australian Tourism Industry Council’s (ATIC) Quality Tourism Framework (QTF) program.

The NSW Tourism Association is licensed by ATIC to provide this accreditation for NSW businesses. This achievement highlights Tweed Shire Council’s commitment to delivering sustainable, high-quality tourism experiences and sets a new benchmark for regional tourism standards.

Sustainable Tourism Accreditation is the Australian tourism industry’s largest and longest-running sustainability program, with the Northern Rivers Rail Trail now among more than 3,000 participating businesses. Accreditation incorporates sustainability across environmental, cultural, social and commercial business practices.

First Place: Tweed section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail
Category: Outstanding Tourism Start-Up

The Tweed section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail has been awarded the Gold Award in the Outstanding Tourism Start-Up category at the prestigious North Coast Tourism Awards. The awards, presented in partnership with Business NSW and Destination North Coast, celebrated excellence in the tourism industry.

The recognition of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail’s Tweed section highlights the innovative and impactful contribution it has made to the region’s tourism offering. The Rail Trail is fast becoming a ‘must-do’ visitor attraction in the region.

The Northern Rivers Rail Trail earned Tripadvisor’s coveted Travelers’ Choice Award ranking it in the top 10% of attractions worldwide. This is a top honour from Tripadvisor awarded to Northern Rivers’ ‘must-do’ experience.

The awards celebrates attractions that have consistently received great traveller reviews on the global travel review website, Tripadvisor, over the past 12 months.

Winner: Tweed Shire Council for the Northern Rivers Rail Trail
Category: 1C – Design and Construction of a public works project greater than $5 million

The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) awarded the Tweed section of the NRRT top honours for Engineering Excellence in Category 1C – Design and Construction of a Public Works Project – Project greater than $5 million. The award is testament to the collaboration between government, industry and the community to achieve a great tourism outcome for the region and cements the Rail Trail as a benchmark for future rail trail projects.

Winner: Northern Rivers Rail Trail, Zone Landscape Architecture & Tweed Shire Council
Category: Best Regional/Rural Industry Contribution Award

Regional/Rural Australia includes all of the towns, small cities and areas that lie beyond the major capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart and Canberra), who make a significant contribution through community initiatives which contribute to the parks and leisure industry. These projects can be play spaces, events, tourism, trails, programs, re-purposing of facilities and environmental initiatives.

These annual awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding initiatives and innovative efforts of ‘the people behind the places’ delivering a range of social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits to regional communities.

Winner: Northern Rivers Rail Trail – NSW Public Works
Category: NSW Regional Project

The Tweed section of the NRRT was recognised as the Best Regional Project in NSW by the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM). The achievement is testament to the dedication, skill and tireless efforts of NSW Public Works in working with Tweed Shire Council to deliver this project.

First Place: Northern Rivers Rail Trail
Category: Conservation – Landscape

Council’s commitment to preserving and celebrating the heritage of the 24km Tweed section of the NRRT was acknowledged with first place in the Conservation – Landscape category award. Most notably, a commitment to highlighting the Aboriginal cultural heritage of the region by incorporating a range of storytelling techniques along the trail, as well as to the region’s rail history, including the restoration of 16 of the Trail’s 26 bridges and 2 tunnels along the track.