Reform and Record Funding for Regional NSW Tourism

On Wednesday 3 April, Minister for Tourism and Major Events, George Souris, announced a significant Government funding reform, including providing funding of $21.6 million over the next three years, for the promotion of regional tourism.

Known as the Regional Visitor Economy Fund, this major reform to funding will take the promotion of regional tourism to another level.

The annual funding is provided in two streams. The first, $11.1m is quarantined for Regional Tourism Organisations and the second, $10.5m is for product development and marketing promotions of the regions.

This is an increase of $6 million over three years on current funding.”

The Regional Visitor Economy Fund is part of the Government’s Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan, based on recommendations by the Visitor Economy Taskforce Report, and aims to boost regional economies through increased tourism.

Key reforms announced by Minister Souris include:

• The development of Regional Destination Management Plans are mandatory to apply for allocations from the Regional Visitor Economy Fund
• The opportunity to apply for both marketing and product development funding
• Stronger performance measurement and reporting requirements.

Destination NSW CEO Sandra Chipchase said: “Destination NSW will be conducting free workshops throughout the State over the next few weeks to explain what the funding is for and how to apply for it. We will also provide advice on the development of Destination Management Plans.

“We want to make the process easy to understand and implement, as we all want more effective campaigns up and running as soon as possible.”

The Regional Visitor Economy Fund workshops will be held in key regional locations, including the Ramada Hotel and Suites in Ballina on Monday 8 April, the Novotel Pacific Bay Resort in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday 9 April and the Crowne Plaza in Newcastle on Wednesday 10 April. Local councils and Regional Tourism Organisations are encouraged to attend; please RSVP to regional.tourism@dnsw.com.au

Other key locations include the Blue Mountains, Orange, Newcastle, Albury, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Wollongong, Batemans Bay, Canberra and Sydney. Venues for these locations will be announced shortly.

For more information on the Regional Visitor Economy Fund, including a Program Guide, an Application Form and Frequently Asked Questions, please visit the Regional Visitor Economy Fund section of the Destination NSW website.