Exmouth tourism group Live Ningaloo wins gold ecotourism award at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards

An Exmouth tour operator is riding the highs of success after walking away victorious with the top ecotourism gong at a national awards night. Live Ningaloo was announced as the winner of the gold ecotourism award last month at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards. The tour operator was founded in 2016 by Murray Pattison and Sonia Beckwith and operates Whale shark and Humpback whale swim tours in the Ningaloo Marine Park. Mr Pattison said he was completely humbled and grateful to receive the award. “It’s great exposure for not just us, but the whole Gascoyne and Northwest region of Australia,” he said. Mr Pattinson said because they operate on the Ningaloo Reef, they try to be as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. “We are working on becoming carbon neutral, as well as we are having a little dabble in the regenerative section working with the a few scientists and a few foundations to give back and put back into the reef,” he said. “We try to join citizen science and tourism. . . We’ve always thought there’s a gap between science and tourism and we try to bridge that gap a little bit because we’re going out there anyway. “We collect some samples and take photographs while we are there.” Tourism Minister Roger Cook said he had the honour of accepting the Ecotourism gold on behalf of Live Ningaloo. “They are one of just 15 companies licensed to bring the extraordinary Ningaloo Reef to tourists across the world,” he said. “These awards are further proof that Western Australia is well and truly open for tourism and open for business.”