Member for Nanango, Deb Frecklington, has welcomed the announcement by the State Government that $160,000 will be made available to support the Greater Brisbane Region Drive Campaign.
Mrs Frecklington said the funding is part of the State Government’s Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) Contestable Grants Funding Scheme which aims to enhance local tourism opportunities and provide a further boost for tourism and events in Queensland
“I’m really pleased to see that the funds are being invested in encouraging people from Brisbane to take short driving breaks to regions like the Somerset,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“I couldn’t think of a more beautiful place for our city cousins to bring their families and explore for the day or weekend,” she said.
The contestable grants encouraged RTO’s to leverage their own contributions towards projects with those from partners including local governments, local tourism organisations, industry and others to strengthen their proposed initiatives.
“Where grant applications have been successful, destinations’ cash contributions were eligible for matched State Government funding,” Deb said
“In addition, projects were able to receive an extra 50 per cent for every dollar of new local government funds contributed to their successful projects.”
Deb the grants were a practical example of the Government’s commitment to partnering with industry to work towards the goal of doubling annual overnight visitor expenditure from $15 billion to $30 billion by 2020.
“The Government’s 20-year plan for tourism, Destination Success, outlines the need for industry and government to work in partnership, unified in the approach to support the growth of tourism in the state.”
Photo: Member for Nanango, Deb Frecklington with Premier Campbell Newman. Deb believes that the Drive Tourism Funding for the Great Brisbane Region will be of great benefit to the Somerset region and destinations like Somerset & Wivenhoe Dams.
