Australian Regional Tourism (ART) welcomes today’s $250 million announcement from the Federal Government for regional Australia to boost recovery and support jobs in regional economies. The Regional Tourism Recovery Package will include two measures, a $50 million Recovery for Regional Tourism initiative to assist businesses in regions highly dependent on international tourism and a further $200 million for an additional round of the Building Better Regions Fund (BBRF).
The $50 million Recovery of Regional Tourism Fund will support nine regions across the country that are highly exposed to international tourism. The fund will support projects that will deliver quick impacts through job creation, stimulate domestic travel, and assist market diversification and adaptation.
Of the $200 million to support regional projects through the BBRF, $100 million will be dedicated to tourism-related infrastructure. Earlier this month the Government announced the $50 million Business Events Grants program which will largely support metro visitor economies, the focus on regional areas from this new announcement is most welcomed.
ART Chair Coralie Bell said COVID-19, on the back of the bushfires and prolonged drought has had an extreme impact on regional areas, not only affecting the economic health of our regional communities the pandemic has severely compromised the mental health of our regional tourism operators.
“This new funding will provide a much needed boost to regional operators and encourage the flow of visitors to regional destinations,” Ms Bell said.
“Tourism infrastructure is critical to regional areas being more accessible, competitive and attractive, the additional round of the BBRF will deliver projects to support this.”
Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said tourism regions had been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and this would help them to bounce back firstly by attracting more Australians and then overseas visitors when our international borders re-open.
“Tourism is such an important job creator and driver of many regional economies. We want to make sure that our tourism regions are in the best possible shape on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Minister Birmingham said.
Assistant Minister for Regional Tourism Jonno Duniam said regional tourism was the lifeblood of so many Australian towns and regional communities and this would help to get them back on their feet.
“Tourism will never be the same again, but there is opportunity in this challenge and the greatest opportunity is in our regions,” Assistant Minister Jonno Duniam said.
The nine regions eligible for the Recovery for Region Tourism Fund and Federal Government allocations are:
- Australia’s South West (Western Australia) – up to $1.25 million
- Gold Coast (Queensland) – up to $10 million
- Kangaroo Island (South Australia) – up to $3.5 million
- Lasseter and Alice Springs (Northern Territory) – up to $3.5 million
- North Coast (New South Wales) – up to $1.25 million
- Phillip Island region (Victoria) – up to $3.5 million
- Tasmania – up to $13.5 million
- Tropical North Queensland (Queensland) – up to $10 million
- Whitsundays and Mackay region (Queensland) – up to $3.5 million
Regional plans will be developed and implemented by Austrade, lead by Assistant Minister Duniam with each region consulted in the determination of what the funding will be used for. Consultation will be undertaken with local industry and stakeholders, in collaboration with the States and Commonwealth.
BBRF Round 5 will be delivered like the funds previous rounds, with Infrastructure Projects and Community Investment streams available. Funding guidelines and further information including application period dates will be announced shortly.
ART acknowledges the efforts of Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham and Assistant Minister for Regional Tourism Jonno Duniam in the allocation this funding, and we thank them both for their continued support of regional tourism.
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