The wins keep coming for Tasmanian eco-cruising pioneer Rob Pennicott and his team at Bruny Island Cruises. Already an icon among Tasmanian visitor experiences, the cruise along the remote and spectacular coastline of South Bruny Island won all three categories entered in the 2009 Tasmanian Tourism Awards.

"We were very excited to be named Best Tasmanian Attraction and Best Ecotourism, as well as winning the Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism," Rob says. "Each of the awards is important to us for different reasons and it's a great thrill to be acknowledged across a wide variety of criteria."

The Best Tasmanian Attraction award follows on success in the same category in 2006 and 2008. It recognises the significance of Bruny Island Cruises in raising the profile of Bruny Island, south-east of Tasmania's capital city of Hobart, as a key destination for local and interstate visitors, along with increasing numbers of international visitors to Tasmania. The ecocruise has been featured in travel media around the globe, including recognition by the prestigious Travel & Leisure Magazine 2008 yearbook as 'One of the Greatest 100 Trips of the World.'
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Under the headline 'It's been a rough ride but we never felt like abandoning ship', the press advertisement portrays Mr Pennicott at his Adventure Bay base, with the purpose-built cruise boats he designed behind him and a distant Mt Wellington on the horizon.

Mr Pennicott's cruises have won a series of major Australian awards, including two national categories in the 2008 Telsta Business Awards: the Telstra MYOB Small Business Award for businesses with five to 20 employees; and the Sensis Social Responsibility Award for demonstrated leadership and contribution by a business to the environment, people, education or the community.

The Pennicott family's successful and dynamic businesses continue to grow, carrying more than 28,000 passengers in the 2007-2008 season along the coastlines of South Bruny Island and the Tasman Peninsula. The 2008-2009 season is on target to increase those numbers.
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Both cruises explore sections of south-east Tasmania's remote and dramatic coastline, where the highest sea-cliffs in the southern hemisphere rise up 300 metres from the water. Rob Pennicott custom-designed his company's fast, comfortable and sea-kindly craft specifically for this type of eco-cruising.

Bruny Island Cruises operates from Adventure Bay, cruising south as far as the Friars, where Storm Bay meets the Southern Ocean. Tasman Island Cruises runs between Eaglehawk Bay and Port Arthur, giving guests a close encounter with Tasman Island on the way.
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The outstanding quality and environmental sustainability of his team's tourism operations were acknowledged in Sydney on 10 October, with wins in two major national awards – the Telstra MYOB Small Business Award for businesses with five to 20 employees; and the Telstra Sensis Social Responsibility Award for demonstrated leadership and contribution by a business to the environment, people, education or the community.
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