The City of Fremantle's long-term commitment to tourism and marketing Fremantle as a major tourism destination has been recognised with two gold medals at the 2022 Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards on Saturday night.

The City was awarded Gold in the Excellence in Local Government Tourism category for a second year running and Gold in the Tourism Marketing and Campaign Award category for the THIS IS FREMANTLE destination marketing brand. The Tourism Marketing and Campaign Award recognises creativity and innovation in the promotion of tourism products, services and/or destinations.

Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said the City was honoured to win gold in multiple categories which reflected the success of the implementation of an ambitious four-year Destination Marketing Strategic Plan developed by the City of Fremantle in collaboration with its Destination Marketing Working Group.

The plan aims to leverage unprecedented levels of investment in Fremantle bringing a new level of sophistication to WA's favourite seaside city. Under the THIS IS FREMANTLE destination brand, the City has so far delivered a series of innovative campaigns, a program of highly successful event activations, plus a new website, holiday planner and state of the art visitor centre.

“The City was well placed to prioritise key projects to use as levers in delivering tangible economic benefits for our business community as we emerged from COVID.”

“These awards recognise the hard work and determination of Fremantle's businesses and tourism operators who have partnered with us on many activations and campaigns,” Mayor Fitzhardinge said.  

“We also greatly value our partnerships with tourism organisations including Destination Perth, Tourism WA, Business Events Perth and Tourism Council of WA in supporting our work and telling the world what a wonderful place Fremantle is to visit.”

“The THIS IS FREMANTLE brand and the campaigns and activations associated with it have been really important in attracting visitors and supporting our local traders,” she said.

“Along with the expertise of our working group, we have a committed team of economic development and marketing professionals, visitor centre staff and volunteer ambassadors, who work tirelessly to promote our city and encourage visitors to explore Fremantle and stay longer.”

"They've done an excellent job in capturing Fremantle's essence as one of the most eclectic and spirited seaside destinations in the world.

 It's an exciting time for Fremantle with the largest public-private infrastructure project now complete at Walyalup Koort, which includes the new Walyalup Civic Centre and FOMO entertainment and dining precinct.

 “Fremantle is experiencing a new wave of visitors who are keen to experience award winning hotels and restaurants, more boutique shops, cafes, bars and attractions adding to an already impressive list,” Mayor Fitzhardinge said.

Fremantle Prison were also winners at this year's WA Tourism Awards, taking out the gold medal for Major Tourism Attraction and silver medal for Cultural Tourism, while SeaLink WA took out the Sir David Brand Award for the most outstanding tourism operator.

“We're really spoilt for choice here in Freo when it comes to amazing tourism experiences,” Mayor Fitzhardinge said. 

The awards come after Fremantle was recently named by TIME Magazine as one of the 50 greatest places in the world.

The gold winners of the WA Tourism Awards, including the City of Fremantle, will go on to represent WA at the 2022 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards held in Sydney in 2023.