The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Tourism Australia have announced that Melbourne, Australia will be the host destination for the prestigious awards in 2017.

The announcement was made by William Drew, Group Editor of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants alongside Tourism Australia Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Ronson at the Chefs’ Feast, a dinner for the world’s best chefs and restaurateurs in New York.

Tourism Australia Managing Director, John O’Sullivan said the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards and event program provided a natural extension to its Restaurant Australia campaign, which would be amplified through a comprehensive schedule of food and wine-themed events and activities designed to add value to Australia’s hosting of the Melbourne event.

“The awards align closely with Tourism Australia’s global campaign focus on food and wine and provide another compelling chapter in our ongoing Restaurant Australia story which we continue to share with the world. Hosting such a prestigious event as this provides us with another excellent opportunity to bring the world’s most influential food and wine people to Australia to inspire, inform and advocate our country’s world class food and wine scene,” said John O’Sullivan.