Great Lakes businesses and events that entered into the awards include the Myall River Festival, Bulahdelah Visitors Information Centre, Forster Baby Boomers Bash, Club Forster, Hawks Nest Newsagency and Eco Point Myall Shores Resort.

Entrant numbers were up 30 per cent from last year with 50 entries being received from tourism operators located from the Coffs Coast to Port Stephens.

Ten judges went into lock down last month to decide the winners.

Each entrant was judged on a prior site inspection and a written submission detailing their product, business plans, marketing initiatives, customer service, professional development, sustainability and innovation.

The judges are remaining tight-lipped about their chosen winners until the gala presentation evening in Port Stephens where the winners will be announced and the success of the tourism industry on the Mid North Coast will be celebrated.

“The aim of the awards this year was to fine tune the judging process,” Mid North Coast regional Tourism Organisation marketing manager Belinda Novicky said.

“We have always followed the state (judging process) but this year we implemented every aspect,” Ms Novicky said.

Winners will go on to represent their region in the NSW Tourism Awards for Excellence and will be promoted to further lift the profile of the region.

With a blue and gold theme to recognise the sand and water across the Mid North Coast guests are encouraged to make the evening a formal affair.

The success of the tourism industry in the region is clearly highlighted in statistics released for the year ending in March 2008.

The Mid North Coast has welcomed a 7.7 per cent increase in international visitors to the region and a continuing 18.1 per cent for overnight domestic visitors travelling through the area.

A total of 167,300 international visitors were welcomed to the Mid North Coast, spending nearly 1 million nights in the region. The statistics were dominated by United Kingdom visitors on 29.3 per cent, followed by New Zealand residents on 11 per cent.

Winners will be announced at the presentation evening to be held at the Nelson Bay Diggers Club on August 25.

The awards will be hosted by Southern Cross Ten’s News and Current Affairs director Ali Drower.