Kiwi Experience, New Zealand's renowned hop-on, hop-off adventure network has won its third consecutive Golden Backpack Award in the Best Tour Operator New Zealand category.

The Golden Backpack Awards is the only Australasian awards programme for the independent travel sector and winners were determined by more than 40,000 travellers who lodged their votes across a number of backpacker tourism categories on www.tntdownunder.com. The category winners were announced on Thursday evening at a gala dinner in Sydney.

Kiwi Experience Marketing Manager Tara Baskerville says the Kiwi Experience team is immensely proud to take out this award in the company's 20th anniversary year.

She says, "This award is particularly meaningful to Kiwi Experience as it's voted for entirely by our customers - it's a reflection of our team's commitment to making each and every passenger's trip the trip of a lifetime."

The adventure travel network estimates more than 400,000 people have experienced New Zealand the Kiwi Experience way since the first bus set off in 1989.

"We know the independent traveller sector is dynamic, so we're continually looking at ways to evolve the Kiwi Experience product, routes and activities to ensure we provide travellers with the most authentic and exciting New Zealand experience. This is what gives us the winning edge with our customers in the Golden Backpack Awards," says Ms Baskerville.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Kiwi Experience has relaunched its website with a community section and interactive map so people planning their visit can jump online and get helpful real-time tips from the Kiwi Experience team and the travellers that have gone before them. More details are available at www.kiwiexperience.com