$36 Million Package too Drive Growth in Regional and Rural Victoria
On Sunday 13 June The Premier John Brumby unveiled a $36 million package and a new multi-million campaign featuring Victoria’s iconic villages as part of a push to drive up interstate and international visitors to rural and regional Victoria.
Mr Brumby and Regional and Rural Development Minister Jacinta Allan visited Kyneton to unveil the tourism package which will form a key part of the Government’s upcoming blueprint to drive the future prosperity of Victoria’s regions.
Under the package, groups will have access to a new, dedicated $25 million fund to support the development of world-class infrastructure for tourism, particularly nature-based tourism projects such as walking and rail trails and state and national park upgrades.
New locally-run tourism boards will be established to identify and drive new opportunities for tourism in local communities.
“Our Government understands how important tourism is to the liveability and prosperity of our regions and today’s package is about opening the door to more opportunities for our regions to take advantage of their prime position in our stunning state,” Mr Brumby said.
“Victoria’s local tourism industry provides jobs for almost 185,000 people and injects almost $16 billion into the state’s economy. We want to drive growth in this vital sector by encouraging more people to spend time in our regional and rural areas.
“This package is about encouraging more Australians, more Victorians and more international visitors to visit Victoria’s outstanding regional tourism destinations and to encourage them to spend up big while they are there.”
Mr Brumby said the $36 million package to drive up tourism in regional Victoria included:
- $25 million for new tourism assets and redevelopment of existing tourism assets with a focus on nature-based tourism infrastructure to develop key regional areas as world-class tourist destinations;
- $6 million ‘Villages of Victoria’ campaign to build on Tourism Victoria’s recent highly successful Daylesford campaign to generate awareness of Victoria’s distinctive villages;
- $2 million to be invested in the development of locally run Regional Tourism Boards to enable local operators and leaders to set the region’s overarching strategic direction;
- $1 million program for regions to improve their online marketing and online booking services;
- $1 million for new training and resources to boost customer service capacity in tourist destinations across regional Victoria; and
- $1 million for a Regional Business Events program to attract more conferences and conference delegates to regional Victoria.
To read more on this package please visit the Victorian Premiers website.
June 17, 2010 at 10:24 am | General | No comment
Welcome to our new website!
After many weeks of hard work the new website for the Victorian branch of the Australian Tourism Accreditation Program (ATAP) is now live.
Visit www.atapvic.net.au and check it out.
While the site includes many new features — such as showcasing an accredited business on the home page that is meeting and exceeding accreditation standards (this will be updated monthly) — the most sought after change is the improved search functionality for visitors looking for an accredited business. Whislt we are still making some minor adjustments we thought its was important to get this website live as soon as possible.
In addition we will be introducing news feeds where operators can get the latest information on what’s happening in the tourism industry, in the business world and developments and opportunities with ATAP.
At any time you will be able to go onto www.atapvic.net.au and see the latest news and in addition we will send you weekly updates with short excerpts where you can click on for more information. You will be able to unsubscribe from the news feed however we encourage you to keep on reading to ensure you don’t miss out on important news and information.
ATAP has taken the greatest effort to ensure that all information on the website is true. The business descriptions have been taken from the accreditation application. If there has been an error on your businesses description please contact either Erin or Julian on (03) 9620 4199.
June 16, 2010 at 4:00 pm | General | No comment
De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate – Featured Business
De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate is where the family philosophy of great wine, food and friends has come together in a magnificent setting. The estate is located only one hour’s drive from Melbourne, nestled in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and set amidst landscaped gardens and extensive vineyards.
Offering a range of experiences from relaxed and informal tastings of their elegant cool climate wines to a Cheese Shop run by renowned cheese maker Richard Thomas, where visitors will find a range of domestic and world renowned cheeses for tasting and sale.
Visitors can also dine in the rustic Italian inspired restaurant “Locale” which offers superb views from every window and an atmosphere that is both stylish and inviting.
In 2009 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate won their third consecutive Victorian Tourism Award for Tourism Winery, Distillery or Boutique Brewery and were inducted into the Victorian Tourism Hall of Fame. De Bortoli has also been awarded the QANTAS 2008 and 2009 Australian Tourism Award. A fantastic achievement and well deserved.
Visit the De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate website.
