Published Thursday, 04 December, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Toowoomba and Southern Downs tourism receives $145,900 State Government Christmas present
Toowoomba and Golden West Regional Tourist Association and the Southern Downs and Granite Belt Tourist Association will join forces to develop a unique food and wine experience thanks to a special funding grant of $145,900, Tourism Minister Desley Boyle announced today.
The grant, part of $1 million in State Government funding allocated to the state’s 14 regional tourism organisations, will be used to develop a food and wine experience bringing together local producers and operators across the two regions.
“Both regions are renowned for quality wine and local produce and pooling resources will help them compete with other major food and wine regions such as the Barossa and Hunter Valleys,” Ms Boyle said.
“The Southern Downs, Granite Belt, Toowoomba and the Golden West already have 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.”
“Both destinations have long been involved in joint marketing projects under the South East Queensland Country banner so it makes sense to pool resources to focus on two of the things they do best – food and wine.”
Ms Boyle said the $1 million in grant funding was a State Government commitment to fund tourism development initiatives 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 allocated to the state’s 14 regional tourism organisations, will be used to develop a food and wine experience bringing together local producers and operators across the two regions.
“Both regions are renowned for quality wine and local produce and pooling resources will help them compete with other major food and wine regions such as the Barossa and Hunter Valleys,” Ms Boyle said.
“The Southern Downs, Granite Belt, Toowoomba and the Golden West already have 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.”
“Both destinations have long been involved in joint marketing projects under the South East Queensland Country banner so it makes sense to pool resources to focus on two of the things they do best – food and wine.”
Ms Boyle said the $1 million in grant funding was a State Government commitment to fund tourism development initiatives 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