State to spend on regional tourism

A NEW round of money targeting visitor economies was announced last week as part of the State Government’s Enabling Tourism Fund.

Speaking at the Discovery Science and Technology Centre, Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopolous announced $8 million had been allocated to support regional tourism infrastructure.

“We’re trying to bring to life a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects right through rural and regional Victoria,” Mr Dimopolous said.

Grants of up to $500,000 are available to rural and regional tourism operators, not-for-profits, and First Nations organisations who need funding to get their projects off the ground.

“Some of the best natural assets and food and wine experiences are actually in regional and rural Victoria,” Mr Dimopolous said said.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity for the market to be able to come to us and say ‘we know our customer, we know our region, and we know this is going to work.’”

This latest round of funding is the first to be made available from a State Government pledge to spend $170 million supporting regional tourism.

The redevelopment of the new planetarium at Discovery was supported by a grant from a previous round of funding.

Alissa Van Soest, general manager of Discovery, said the money had enabled the centre to explore new projects.

“The tourism fund, the ability that it’s given us to explore First Nations shows and First nations astrology, it’s just a really great asset for us and our community,” she said.

“We’re really pleased we’ve been part of this and we’re really excited for what will continue to happen next.”

Applications for the Enabling Tourism Fund will be open until 28 March and more information on the grants can be found on the Vic tourism website.