It’s official – the Whitsundays is now Australia’s happiest town. Weather presenter James Tobin made the announcement on national television last Friday when Channel 7’s Sunrise show was broadcast live from Airlie Beach.
Tourism Whitsundays Chief Executive Officer Peter O’Reilly said nomination for the ‘Vaalia happiest town’ promotion was based on the success of the ‘smile’ campaign’ and Channel 7’s James Tobin said he loved the idea.
“We were running a campaign for happiness and ‘smile’ is in exactly the same vein. It’s this great positive attitude of ‘let’s do everything we can to get back on top’,” he said.
“Sunrise is keen to do as much as they can for Queensland. It’s great that all of the tourism operators and businesses here are ready to go but they need customers and that’s where we can help. We can show everyone that Queensland is shining again and there’s never been a better time to come.”
“You’ve got service here like nowhere else in the world,” he told viewers on Friday.
“I met so many locals today - what a great group of people. It’s no wonder this is Australia’s happiest town. That hospitality – it blows you away”.
Friday’s show was such a success the Sunrise team decided to stay another day for a broadcast of the weekend show from the Airlie Beach markets on Saturday.
Stall holder and ukulele player Jeni Borellini sang her special ‘smile’ song during a live cross.
“I wrote the song for the smile campaign. It’s about smiling in the Whitsundays and being good to our customers, particularly in these hard times,” Ms Borellini said.
Member for Whitsunday and Tourism Minister Jan Jarratt said the timing of Channel 7’s Sunrise broadcast at the beginning of the winter season was critical.
“It’s invaluable exposure for this region to have one of our most popular TV shows come here. And it raises morale for everyone in town,” Ms Jarratt said.
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