Australia hosts the World’s Best Restaurants Awards

Australia will host The World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards in Melbourne tomorrow night.

Hosting this prestigious event, which has brought the world's best chefs down under, is a coup for Australia and shines the spotlight on our food and wine industry.

Almost 200 chefs, restaurateurs and international food and wine media are in Australia for the awards. Away from ceremony night, they will get to taste and see Australia though more than 160 familiarisation visits to all states and territories. Tourism Australia worked with the organisers of The World's 50 Best Restaurants to create spectacular events best showcasing Australia's food and wine offering in stunning locations.

I am confident the visiting chefs, restaurateurs and media will fall in love with our country and leave here as advocates for Australia's unique and diverse food and wine scene.

Australia's food and wine has become an important drawcard. One in five dollars spent by international visitors is now going towards food and wine experiences and last year grew by $341 million to $5.4 billion.

Tourism Australia's restaurant campaign continues to bring Australia's unique culinary experiences to centre stage in our destination marketing. The campaign tells the world about our fresh seafood, world class wine, multicultural flavours and incredibly diverse produce.

The impressive visitor numbers we have seen recently are 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.