Denmark business a winner
A small Denmark-based business has done the Great Southern proud after being the region’s only award winner in the 2012 GWN7 WA Regional Small Business Awards.
Out of Sight Tours took the trophy home in the microbusiness category, for businesses with fewer than five employees, in a gala awards ceremony at Crown Perth Convention Centre on Friday.
It was one of five Great Southern businesses named as a finalist in the awards, sponsored by Albany Advertiser publisher West Australian Regional Newspapers.
The ecotourism specialist has been operating for the past six years and is the brainchild of husband-and-wife duo Dave Bomba and Lenore Lyons.
“We were quite chuffed, really,” Ms Lyons said of the win.
“Our vision has been to establish ourselves as the leading provider of ecotourism experiences here and in the South West, so to have that recognition on a State level … is testament to that vision.
“It affirms that vision that we’re heading on the right path and able to benchmark ourselves against other businesses.” She said the awards evening was “incredibly inspirational”.
“I came away more excited about other stories about other businesses than I was with my own,” she said.
“The entrepreneurship and the tenacity of some businesses and what they’ve been able to achieve was inspiring.”
Out of Sight Tours was also recognised the next evening in the WA Tourism Awards, taking home a gold medal in both the ecotourism and tour operator categories out of nine finalists.
Ms Lyons said the amount of Great Southern finalists represented in the different awards provided great and well-deserved exposure to the region.
Small Business Minister Simon O’Brien said Regional Small Business Awards’ award-winning businesses represented the “cream of the crop”.
“(They are) a great example of the diversity and high quality of products and services that exist in our regional centres,” he said.
“Representing a range of industries from tourism to construction, all of (the) finalists and winners should be very proud of their achievements.”
