Cabravale Club Resort has been named Tourism Business of the Year \u2013 Major at the 2026 Western Sydney Tourism Awards, with The William Inglis Hotel \u2013 MGallery Collection taking the gold award.<\/strong><\/p>\n The awards were held on Saturday night at the impressive Western Sydney Convention Centre in Penrith. Hosted by the Western Sydney Tourism Taskforce NSW (WSTTF), there were 13 awards presented across tourism, hospitality, accommodation, events, arts and visitor experiences.<\/p>\n Cabravale had a strong night. It also won platinum for Best Rated Cuisine for Magma by Dany Karam (ex Black, The Star), gold for the Tourism Transformation Excellence Award, and gold for chief commercial officer Vicki Le in the Chief Executive\/General Manager of the Year category.<\/p>\n The William Inglis Hotel was another big winner. Chef Amanda Fuller (ex Mejico, Indu and Kid Kyoto) won platinum for Tourism Excellence \u2013 Team Member of the Year, and general manager Belinda Thomson took the special Leadership Legacy Award.<\/p>\n Western Sydney International Airport won platinum for Tourism Transformation Excellence, ahead of Cabravale.<\/p>\n The opening of Western Sydney International (Nancy Bird Walton) airport, loomed large over the evening.<\/p>\n Set to see its first passenger next Monday, WSI\u2019s general manager Airport Partnerships Shiara Samarasinghe said the opening gave the region a new platform.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than a third of Western Sydney residents were born overseas, and the region is home to more than 170 different ancestries,\u201d she told the room. \u201cThe airport gives us a new platform to showcase all of that to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Samarasinghe said airline partners include Qanats, Singapore Airlines and Fiji Airways, and that Mountain Culture Brewery will be among the local businesses showcased in the terminal. She also named Lagard\u00e8re as a key partner for the airport\u2019s retail precinct.<\/p>\n She said the tourism industry would be central to making the most of the airport.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile airports can bring people to a destination, it\u2019s the tourism industry that transforms a visit into an experience,\u201d she told the almost 400 local business, tourism and political representatives at the event.<\/p>\n Samarasinghe urged operators and locals to use the new airport.<\/p>\n \u201cDemand will drive growth. Growth will create choice, and that choice will create even greater opportunities for people, businesses and communities of this region,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Qantas\u2019s head of Commercial, Airports David Donohoe said direct flights would soon link Western Sydney with Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and beyond, with about a million seats flying in both directions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis night is not really about aircraft. It\u2019s about what they make possible,\u201d Donohoe said. \u201cSydney\u2019s about to become a two-airport city. Our job is to bring visitors here, and your job is to give them every reason to stay and come back.\u201d<\/p>\n NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper, Penrith mayor Todd Carney and Destination NSW chief executive Karen Jones were among those at the event.<\/p>\n NSW opposition leader Kellie Sloane said she had skipped other major Sydney events to attend.<\/p>\n \u201cI selfishly chose to be here because I have so many friends in the room,\u201d she said. \u201cI love the energy that comes from Western and Southwestern Sydney, and your story is only just beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n Sloane said she wants visitors to see the region as a destination in its own right. \u201cWhenever someone comes to Sydney, I say, of course, go and see Bondi or see the Opera House, but please jump on a ferry to Parramatta,\u201d she said. She described a future in which Western Sydney becomes \u201ca place that people don\u2019t just drive past and fly over\u201d, but where they land and stay.<\/p>\n Panthers Group chief executive Andrew Hill, whose organisation hosted the evening at its Penrith precinct, said the region\u2019s growth was only beginning. \u201cWestern Sydney has an exciting future ahead,\u201d he said. \u201cOur work is only just starting.\u201d<\/p>\n WSTTF chair Fazila Farhad said the awards, which launched in 2024, had helped shape the sector\u2019s growth. \u201cSuccess will be defined not by infrastructure alone, but by the people and experiences that bring our region to life and make it such a unique destination for visitors,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The taskforce also gave guests a preview of its upcoming destination campaign, \u2018A World at Your Doorstep\u2019. Further details will be announced in the coming days.<\/p>\n Platinum winners<\/strong><\/p>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cabravale Club Resort has been named Tourism Business of the Year \u2013 Major at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Hon.-Steve-Kamper-MP-Minister-for-Jobs-and-Tourism_2-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Hon.-Steve-Kamper-MP-Minister-for-Jobs-and-Tourism_2-1024x683.jpg\")
An airport on the horizon<\/h2>\n
![\"Karen](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Karen-Jones-CEO-Destination-NSW-1024x683.jpg\"\/)
![\"Karen](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Karen-Jones-CEO-Destination-NSW-1024x683.jpg\")
Political support<\/h2>\n
![\"NSW](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Kellie-Sloane-NSW-Opposition-Leader-259x388.jpg\"\/)
![\"NSW](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Kellie-Sloane-NSW-Opposition-Leader-259x388.jpg\")
New campaign<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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