18 July 2010
Brisbane Marketing will lead a $262,000 grant project in conjunction with almost 30 surrounding tourism organisations, industry bodies, operators and councils in a new Greater Brisbane marketing strategy targeting British, American and European markets, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor announced today.
Mr Lawlor said the funding was part of the Queensland Tourism Network Grant Scheme, administered by Tourism
"The
"One of the region's biggest selling points is that everything from a cosmopolitan city, to island escapes, national parks, wildlife and fantastic food and wine can be experienced within just a couple of hours' travel time - something that is very appealing to international visitors who may not have a lot of time.
"By working together to package these experiences in a way that can be easily sold by international trade partners, visitors from these key markets will be encouraged to stay longer and spend more in the Brisbane region."
"The Brisbane region will also benefit from a grant given to Gold Coast Tourism to work with the Brisbane Marketing on a South East Queensland Walking Trails initiative."
Mr Lawlor said the Queensland Tourism Network Grant Scheme application process was announced in February this year with funding available to a range of not-for-profit tourism groups including regional and local tourism organisations, local government tourism departments and divisions, and tourism associations that were members of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council.
The grants fell under two categories - funding for projects to enable tourism organisations to streamline their current operations - for example by merging with other tourism bodies; and for organisations to collaborate on new tourism marketing or product development initiatives that aren't already part of their core operations.
Mr Lawlor said the Queensland Tourism Network Grant Scheme would allocate $3 million over the next three years as part of a commitment to help the state's tourism organisations develop a stronger and more cohesive network.
"The aim of the grant scheme was to encourage tourism organisations to think outside their 'business as usual' squares," he said.
"We wanted them to come to us with proposals that would help them build a stronger and more efficient tourism network in
"The calibre of grant submissions was extremely high and I congratulate Brisbane Marketing and its partners on the success of their application."
The grants a re a result of the 2008 State Government review of Queensland's tourism network which resulted in a series of reforms which included encouraging tourism organisations to collaborate in order to create a more efficient and streamlined industry
