Published Thursday, 04 December, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Outback Tourism receives $63,000 State Government Christmas present
The Outback Queensland Tourist Association will receive a special funding grant of $63,000 to develop a plan for new tourism development and investment opportunities, Tourism Minister Desley Boyle announced today.
The grant, part of $1 million in State Government funding to the state’s 14 regional tourism organisations, will be used to fund an Outback Regional Tourism Investment and Infrastructure Plan, to examine existing product and infrastructure and identify new development opportunities.
“As part of the 10 year Queensland Tourism Strategy, each of the state’s tourism regions is preparing a regional tourism investment and infrastructure plan which will help guide how tourism in the destination develops in the future,” Ms Boyle said.
“This funding will allow the Outback Queensland Tourist Association to engage a specialist to prepare the plan.
“Queensland’s Outback already has some fantastic tourism product but both government and industry need to continue to raise the bar by looking for new opportunities and better ways of doing things.”
Member for Mount Isa Betty Kiernan said in the year to June 30 2008, 507,000 domestic and 32,000 international visitors spent time in Queensland’s Outback.
Of these, 212,000 domestic and 26,000 international visitors came specifically on holiday, increases of 27 percent and 13 percent respectively.
“This is proof that Queensland’s Outback is a popular holiday destination, so it’s important that the local tourism industry continues to look for ways improve,” Ms Boyle said.
“The $1 million in grant funding is a State Government commitment to fund tourism development initiatives which regional tourism organisations would otherwise be unable to undertake.
“Regional tourism organisations across the state will use their allocations for a whole range of projects from new product feasibility studies to industry education programs.”
Ms Boyle said the funding was part of the State Government’s Queensland Tourism Strategy commitment to an additional $4 million in funding over four years for regional tourism organisations.
“Competition for the tourist dollar is increasingly fierce and it’s important for destinations to constantly look at ways to improve their visitor experience – be it investigating new product opportunities, increasing customer service levels or providing business advice and support to operators,” she said.
“I was pleased to see so many high-quality submissions and look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition.”
Further information:
Minister’s office – 3225 1005 or 0419 025 326
Tourism Queensland – 3535 5010
The grant, part of $1 million in State Government funding to the state’s 14 regional tourism organisations, will be used to fund an Outback Regional Tourism Investment and Infrastructure Plan, to examine existing product and infrastructure and identify new development opportunities.
“As part of the 10 year Queensland Tourism Strategy, each of the state’s tourism regions is preparing a regional tourism investment and infrastructure plan which will help guide how tourism in the destination develops in the future,” Ms Boyle said.
“This funding will allow the Outback Queensland Tourist Association to engage a specialist to prepare the plan.
“Queensland’s Outback already has some fantastic tourism product but both government and industry need to continue to raise the bar by looking for new opportunities and better ways of doing things.”
Member for Mount Isa Betty Kiernan said in the year to June 30 2008, 507,000 domestic and 32,000 international visitors spent time in Queensland’s Outback.
Of these, 212,000 domestic and 26,000 international visitors came specifically on holiday, increases of 27 percent and 13 percent respectively.
“This is proof that Queensland’s Outback is a popular holiday destination, so it’s important that the local tourism industry continues to look for ways improve,” Ms Boyle said.
“The $1 million in grant funding is a State Government commitment to fund tourism development initiatives which regional tourism organisations would otherwise be unable to undertake.
“Regional tourism organisations across the state will use their allocations for a whole range of projects from new product feasibility studies to industry education programs.”
Ms Boyle said the funding was part of the State Government’s Queensland Tourism Strategy commitment to an additional $4 million in funding over four years for regional tourism organisations.
“Competition for the tourist dollar is increasingly fierce and it’s important for destinations to constantly look at ways to improve their visitor experience – be it investigating new product opportunities, increasing customer service levels or providing business advice and support to operators,” she said.
“I was pleased to see so many high-quality submissions and look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition.”
Further information:
Minister’s office – 3225 1005 or 0419 025 326
Tourism Queensland – 3535 5010