Mackay Tourism receives $71,500 State Government Christmas present
Published Thursday, 04 December, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Mackay Tourism will receive a special funding grant of $71,500 to look at potential new caravan park developments and a strategy to promote inland fishing 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 identify new tourist caravan park developments within the Mackay region and investigate fishing-related tourism experiences in the region’s inland rivers and streams.
“This funding will allow Mackay Tourism to address the shortage of quality tourist park facilities in the region,” Ms Boyle said.
“There is also a need to develop new inland tourism opportunities to encourage visitors to travel more widely within the region and, after all, fishing is one of Australians’ favourite holiday pastimes.”
Ms Boyle said the Mackay region had some fantastic tourism experiences but new opportunities needed to be explored.
“Both government and industry need to continue to raise the bar by constantly looking for new opportunities and better ways of doing things,” she said.
In the year to June 30 2008, 708,000 domestic and 52,000 international visitors spent time in the Mackay region.
Of these, 287,000 domestic and 42,000 international visitors came specifically on holiday, increases of 45 percent and eight percent respectively.
“The $1 million in grant funding is 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 identify new tourist caravan park developments within the Mackay region and investigate fishing-related tourism experiences in the region’s inland rivers and streams.
“This funding will allow Mackay Tourism to address the shortage of quality tourist park facilities in the region,” Ms Boyle said.
“There is also a need to develop new inland tourism opportunities to encourage visitors to travel more widely within the region and, after all, fishing is one of Australians’ favourite holiday pastimes.”
Ms Boyle said the Mackay region had some fantastic tourism experiences but new opportunities needed to be explored.
“Both government and industry need to continue to raise the bar by constantly looking for new opportunities and better ways of doing things,” she said.
In the year to June 30 2008, 708,000 domestic and 52,000 international visitors spent time in the Mackay region.
Of these, 287,000 domestic and 42,000 international visitors came specifically on holiday, increases of 45 percent and eight percent respectively.
“The $1 million in grant funding is 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