Applications are now being sought from hotels, hospitality venues, attractions and regional tourism bodies in bushfire-affected parts of Australia for funding assistance as part of the government’s efforts to drive the industry’s recovery.
The Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants program is a $10 million allocation of funds from the recently-announced $76 million government grant. It is designed to help businesses pay bills and wages to protect jobs and stimulate economies by assisting local tourism industries to entice visitors to once again holiday in the area.
Federal Tourism Minister, Simon Birmingham, has appointed a three-person panel which will adjudicate applications and award funding. The panel consists of former Destination NSW Managing Director, Sandra Chipchase; South Australia Chairman of Country Arts, Michael Luchich and Visit Victoria board member, Sara Quon. The program will be administered by Austrade in collaboration with the National Bushfire Recovery Agency.
Funding will be distributed across two streams, with the first pot available to exclusively support smaller events up to a maximum of $30,000 per applicant. A second stream will be aimed at larger initiatives including local tourism campaigns and events such as art installations, town fairs and carnivals and other events designed to draw in visitors.
Applicants are advised to form joint applications with other eligible organisations in the same area and to involve local community and industry groups to make their application more attractive. Projects are advised to be scalable as the full requested amount may not be awarded. Further funding may be made available via a new stream if the allocated pot is not used entirely.
More information and grant guidelines can be found HERE.