Australia kicks off World’s 50 Best Restaurants in Sydney

Sydney, Australia, 2017-Apr-03 — /Travel PR News/ — The highly anticipated World’s 50 Best Restaurants arrives in Australia on Saturday, 1 April. Over 90 chefs and restaurant representatives, as well as over 70 international media and the 26 Academy Chairs, will visit Australia for the week-long official event program, hosted by Tourism Australia and state partner, Visit Victoria.

Tourism Australia has worked closely with event organisers William Reed Business Media on the official event program which runs from 1-8 April. These events will showcase Australia’s outstanding food and wine culture to an international audience of chefs, restaurateurs, winemakers, sommeliers, media and food lovers.

Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, said: “Australia is proud to be hosting the world’s best chefs for this significant event. Tourism Australia’s Restaurant Australia campaign continues to bring Australia’s unique culinary experiences to centre stage in our destination marketing. The record visitor numbers we are seeing lately is proof of its success.

“Food and wine spend has increased by 29 per cent since the campaign launched and 60 per cent of visitors rank Australia as one of the top destinations in the world for a gourmet holiday,” he said.

Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said: “Hosting these prestigious awards in Melbourne, together with the Australia-wide program of events that we’ve put together around them, is the next exciting chapter in our ongoing Restaurant Australia story.

“We know from our research that Australia’s association with great food and wine rises significantly amongst international travellers after they’ve visited and sampled the delights that our country has to offer.

“The World’s 50 Best Restaurants provides the perfect platform for Australia’s talented chefs, restaurateurs, producers, and winemakers to demonstrate their culinary credentials and ensure this impressive gathering of influential food and wine figures leave our country as lifelong advocates,” he said.

William Drew, Group Editor of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants said: “It is incredibly exciting to be hosting The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in Australia this year, undoubtedly one of the world’s great food destinations. We have worked closely with Tourism Australia to highlight the country’s unique produce, brilliant wines and dynamic dining scene across key events as part of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017.”

Key events in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants program include:

• The Chefs’ Feast at West Beach Bathers Pavilion (4 April);
• The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building (5 April);
• The Great Aussie Brunch at QT Melbourne (6 April)
• The Academy Escape in South Australia (6-8 April);

The official event program kicks off with an intimate beachside dinner giving the 50 best chefs a taste of Australia’s unique native ingredients as prepared by some of the country’s greatest chefs including Kylie Kwong (Billy Kwong), Lennox Hastie (Firedoor), Jock Zonfrillo (Restaurant Orana), Martin Benn (Sepia), Peter Gilmore (Quay and Bennelong), Shannon Bennett (Vue de monde) and Analiese Gregory (Bar Brose).

The Awards Ceremony is the pinnacle of the event program where over 850 guests will walk the red carpet and dine from an Australian-themed menu served up by Neil Perry, ahead of the official ceremony, where The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017 will be announced. In addition to the visiting chefs and Academy Chairs, the ceremony will also be attended by more than 200 media outlets from over 40 countries.

In a world-first, the public will be able to watch the awards ceremony unfold on the big screen at a picnic-themed Federation Square in Melbourne. The countdown event will include food talks, music, comedy and food trucks.

The morning after the awards Tourism Australia will farewell the chefs and visiting media with the second annual Great Aussie Brunch, themed All- Star Yum Cha as a celebration of Australia’s multicultural culinary influences and leading Asian-Australian chefs.

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy Chairs, who head the voting panels for the awards, will then visit South Australia for a two day program sampling the best of the region’s vineyards, dining in some of the state’s best restaurants and meeting local producers and chefs with the support of Tourism Australia and the South Australian Tourism Commission.

The awards program will also extend nationally as Tourism Australia has partnered with the State and Territory Tourism Organisations and tourism industry to offer 100 of the visiting chefs and media the opportunity to take part in a country-wide tour, taking in some of Australia’s best food and wine experiences.

To further celebrate The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Visit Victoria has engaged White Night Creative Director, David Atkins, to create a week-long program of light projections on Melbourne’s famous Hamer Hall.

The 25th edition of the world-famous Melbourne Food and Wine Festival has also aligned its dates with The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, with its program running from 31 March to 9 April. This will include a MasterClass series celebrating The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, featuring top chefs from around the globe, on 1 and 2 April.

“The world’s culinary elite will descend on Melbourne this April and with them an invaluable opportunity to share our stories through our talented chefs, our world-class restaurants, and our unique regional settings.

“With hundreds of foodie events around town and our free The World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards live-streaming event at Federation Square – everyone is invited to join in the celebrations,” said Visit Victoria’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter Bingeman.

SOURCE: Tourism Australia

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kim Moore
Public Affairs Manager
kmoore@tourism.australia.com
+61 2 9361 1306

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