It may conjure thoughts of a solitary life but for Paul Sofilas being the manager and guide of Australia's tallest mainland lighthouse has seen him celebrated for sharing the Cape Leeuwin building's heritage with about 90,000 people each year.

The manager and guide of the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse was just one of the winners at the weekend's Western Australian Tourism Awards, which acknowledge the State's best tourism service providers and event holders.

Mr Sofilas, who lives at the cottages at Cape Leeuwin and manages the 113-year-old lighthouse, received the Golden Guide Award in front of 820 people at the Burswood ballroom on Saturday night.

Other winners included the Fremantle Prison, which was named gold winner of the major tourist attractions category and the Augusta Margaret River Tourism Association, which was awarded the Sir David Brand Award for Tourism for a second time.

Uptuyu Adventures topped the indigenous tourism category, Whereis Australian Surf Life Saving Championships took the gold prize in the major festivals and events section, and Donnelly River Cruises received gold in the ecotourism category.

Swan Valley Visitor Centre came first in the visitor information and services division.

All WA winners are in the running for the national tourism awards judged in Hobart in February.

WA Tourism Minister Liz Constable said international visitor numbers to the State had grown more than 2 per cent in the past year despite the national average recording a decline.

"It is also an industry that now employs more than 82,000 people in WA," she said.