VIC and ACT take the front foot on tourism reboot funding
Applications now open to support new and existing product and experience development
Government tourism industry support funds aplenty this week with the Victorian Government announcing a $20 million fund to promote regional tourism, while Visit Canberra has advised applications for its 2021-2022 Tourism Cooperative Marketing Fund (TCMF) are now open.
Heralding the Victorian initiative, state minister for tourism, sport and major events, Martin Pakula said the funding, part of a $633 million Visitor Economy Recovery and Reform Plan which aims to boost annual visitor expenditure to $35 billion by June 2024, supporting 300,000 jobs, is available for the attraction, development, marketing and growth of public events across Victoria.
Up to $1 million is available to support costs associated with securing and promoting a major international or national event while up to $500,000 is available to the organisers of existing events to assist with new strategies designed to increase visitation.
Other regional events impacted by COVID or recent natural disasters are able to access $50,000 as part of an Event Industry Support category.
Introduced in 2016, the minister said, the funding has supported more than 250 events across regional Victoria including the Queenscliff Music Festival, the Lost Trades Fair, the Winton SuperSprint and the Chillout Festival.
Other annual regional events which have been supported by the fund include The Lost Trades Fair, the Winton SuperSprint and the Chillout Festival, a significant driver of tourism in regional Victoria.
This year, the RONE exhibition in Geelong provided a significant boost to the local economy.
The VisitCanberra 2021-2022 Cooperative Marketing Funding (TCMF) is designed to encourage Canberra-based organisations or businesses to collaborate on new marketing campaigns or projects that drive awareness, visitation and expenditure to the Canberra region.
Offering grants up to $20,000 in non-matched funding, the primary objectives of the TCMF are to deliver positive and measurable economic outcomes for the ACT tourism industry, support collaboration between industry operators, support new product and experience development, and provide increased investment in high quality marketing campaigns or projects that promote the Canberra region.
This year, to support recovery of the visitor economy, accommodation providers can apply for up to $20,000 in non-matched funding under Grant 1, where they are the lead business.
VisitCanberra advises businesses participating in the Tourism Reboot program from February-May 2021, have the opportunity to attend a mentoring session delivered by Tourism eSchool prior to submitting their application.
The session will include the application of the marketing topics covered in the Tourism Reboot program to their marketing plans.
Further details will be shared directly to Tourism Reboot participants and spots are limited.
VisitCanberra advises while all applications will be assessed in line with set guidelines and assessment criteria, the mentoring session does not guarantee success with the grant process.
For more information on TCMF including eligibility, guidelines and how to apply click here.
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
