Southern Downs and Granite Belt receives $70,000 tourism grant
Posted by editor (editor) on Jan 14 2010
2010 >>

Southern Downs and Granite Belt Regional Tourism will receive a special funding grant of $70,000 to develop an interpretive trail celebrating the region’s heritage, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor announced today.

Mr Lawlor said the grant, part of $1 million in Queensland Government funding allocated to the state’s 14 regional tourism organisations, would help Southern Downs and Granite Belt Regional Tourism enhance the region’s tourism credentials and help entice higher visitor numbers.

“These funds will help Southern Downs and Granite Belt Regional Tourism provide interpretative signs for the region’s historic buildings and attractions,” Mr Lawlor said.

“The signage will complement the existing Heritage and Historic Buildings booklet which features a range of walking and drive trails throughout the Southern Downs and Granite Belt” Mr Lawlor said.

“The Southern Downs and Granite Belt 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 in the year to September 2009, a total of 201,000 overnight domestic and international visitors spent time in the Southern Downs.

“Of these, 116,000 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 9:37 AM