South Coast Tourism Industry Association president Michelle Bishop has been named the Kiama electorate's woman of the year.
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The award on International Women's Day recognises Ms Bishop's unrivalled passion for promoting the region and all it has to offer.
"I really do love what we all do and I just love the people in the industry and what we can offer people visiting our region - whether they're domestic or international guests, it's such a wonderful product that it's hard not to be passionate about it," she said.
The Bangalay Luxury Villas owner and general manager grew up in Shoalhaven Heads, and spent several years as president of the village's chamber of commerce before more recently stepping back to become secretary.
She is also involved with Bundanon, the South Coast Centre of Excellence and economic growth committees, all designed to promote the region.
"I'm so passionate about where I live and where I grew up that I couldn't think of a better way to spend the rest of my life than advocating for people to come and enjoy it with us," Ms Bishop said.
"I can't really imagine myself doing anything else."
Ms Bishop's passion for the region was seen recently when Bangalay Dining was one of several mentioned in the latest Good Food Guide, receiving a prestigious chef's hat.
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But all Ms Bishop wanted to do was talk about all the other eateries mentioned in the guide.
"We're only a region if everyone's a part of it," she said.
"You don't want to be destination dining in an island, you really need the whole industry to be strong in order for people to continue wanting to plan trips here and wanting to come back and spend more time and money in the region.
"We have the best produce in Australia grown at our fingertips, the best scenery great people," she said.
"What better place is there to not only work but encourage people to visit?"
The award came on International Women's Day, and Ms Bishop said there was still a way for women to go to achieve equality, as outlined in the book "How Many More Women?"
"While I always felt supported and encouraged as a female business leader in the community, I do acknowledge the work that one of my best friends, Jennifer Robinson's doing in the human rights space with her recent book that really does show how deep some of these issues relating to women actually are, and how much work there is still to be done," she said.
