Mackay receives $87,000 tourism grant
Posted by editor (editor) on Jan 14 2010
2010 >>

Mackay Tourism will receive a special funding grant of $87,000 for three projects aimed at enhancing the region’s tourism credentials, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor announced today.

Mr Lawlor said Mackay Tourism would conduct an airport passenger survey, a study into the region’s accommodation and investment potential, and implement a business skills and tourism development project.

“The airport passenger survey will help the regional tourism organisation understand who is travelling to Mackay and the purpose of their visit,” Mr Lawlor said.

Member for Mackay Tim Mulherin welcomed the news and the benefits the funding will have on local tourism.

“This will help in planning future marketing campaigns,” Mr Mulherin said.

“The Business Skills and Tourism Development Project will help local operators develop their skills in marketing, product development, pricing and packaging.

“Mackay already has fantastic tourism product but both government and industry need to continue to raise the bar by looking for new opportunities, new markets and better ways of doing things.”

Mr Lawlor said the grant would also enable Mackay Tourism to conduct an audit of existing accommodation in the region and investigate opportunities for new investment.

“The funding for these projects is part of $1 million allocated by the Queensland Government to the state’s 14 regional tourism organisations,” Mr Lawlor said.

In the year to September 2009, 54,000 international and 556,000 overnight domestic visitors spent time in Mackay.

“Of these, 163,000 domestic and 42,000 international visitors came specifically on holiday, making tourism a key economic driver for the region,” Mr Lawlor said.

“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 range of projects from new product feasibility studies to industry education programs.”

Mr Lawlor said the funding was part of the State Government’s new Tourism Action Plan to 2012.

“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,” he said.

“I was pleased to see so many high-quality submissions and look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition.”

Last changed: Jan 14 2010 at 9:42 AM