Joint media release
All five Councils in the electorate of Cowper and incorporated tourism organisations are invited to submit applications for Morrison-McCormack Government’s $10 million Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants.
Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said tourism was the lifeblood of many fire-affected communities and the aim of the Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants program was to get tourists back into these regions.
“We know tourism businesses in fire-affected communities are currently doing it tough,” Minister Birmingham said.
“This program is about encouraging international and domestic tourists to visit these regions and more importantly put tourism dollars back into these local economies, especially outside of regular peaks visitor periods.”
Federal Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan said tourism stakeholders had been eagerly awaiting details of this part of the Australian Government’s $76 million tourism recovery package.
“Coffs Harbour and the Nambucca Valley suffered the cancellation of the World Rally Championship in November due to the bushfires, while Port Macquarie and Kempsey were covered in smoke for much of the Spring-Summer holiday period,” Mr Conaghan said.
“I encourage Councils and incorporated tourism bodies to consider applying for this program in the hope they can receive some financial assistance to deliver events or other permanent visitor attractions that will help revive our local communities and attract visitors to the area.”
Coffs Harbour City Council, Bellingen Shire Council, Nambucca Valley Council, Kempsey Shire Council and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and incorporated tourism organisations are eligible to apply for the two grant streams within the $10 million tourism bushfire recovery program:
• Stream 1: designed to get recovery funds out quickly to communities, it will focus on providing grants of up to $30,000 for smaller scale events. It has a total allocation of $2 million and a streamlined application and assessment process.
• Stream 2: designed to support larger scale events and initiatives and/or other visitor attractions such as art installations and tourist walks. A total of $7.5 million has been allocated for this stream. The remaining $500,000 will be used to top up either grant stream as required.
An expert panel has been appointed to provide advice on the grants program. The members of the panel are Sandra Chipchase, former Chief Executive Officer of Destination NSW, Michael Luchich, Optus South Australian State Director and Chairman of Country Arts South Australia, and Sara Quon, Chief Executive Officer of Sovereign Hill Museums Association and Board Member of Visit Victoria and the Committee for Ballarat.
Applications for the Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants program opened late yesterday and close on 20 March 2020. This grants program was announced as part of the Australian Government’s $76 million Rebuilding Australian Tourism Package to help tourism operators and communities to recover after the devastating bushfires.
For more information visit the Austrade website here.
Media contacts:
Mr Conaghan – Liz Spry 0418 928 744
Mr Birmingham – Benn Ayre 0428 342 325
