THE State Government will provide no new funding for a tourism campaign to help stimulate towns devastated by bushfires.
Tourism Tasmania submitted a $750,000 proposal days after the January bushfires in a bid to lure tourists back to affected regions.
But it was knocked back, forcing the state's peak marketing body to find $250,000 in its budget to fund a new campaign.
The decision not to fund the proposal comes just weeks after the Premier and Tourism Minister praised the economic benefits of the industry at the Australian Tourism awards, where the state scored its best result.
It's a second blow for regional tourism, with the future of the Abt Railway still in doubt as officials race to find a new operator.
Tourism Minister Scott Bacon said post-bushfire support was knocked back because the Government had to weigh up spending on health, education and public safety.
But Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the "Government needs to get its head into gear".
"If the minister doesn't appreciate that [funding for] tourism marketing is not taking away from front line services, then there's a problem," he said.
"Spending in tourism marketing increases the revenue in the state."
Mr Martin said the Government's failure to support the sector was in stark contrast to tourism funding provided by Victorian and Queensland governments in the wake of recent bushfires and cyclones.
"This is obviously a pretty bad reflection of how bad the state's finances actually are," he said.
Mr Martin said Tourism Tasmania had done a "fantastic job" with limited funds to develop the "Tassie Comeback Tour".
The two-month campaign encourages Tasmanians to holiday in bushfire-affected areas.
Tourism operators who star in the campaign were stumped by the Government's funding rejection.
Port Arthur Villas owner Wally Lyne said the move was "another nail in the coffin".
"The Government just fails to realise the importance of tourism and how much it puts into the state," Mr Lyne said.
Dunalley Hotel manager Bill Kidd features in the campaign.
"If Tourism Tasmania [wanted to allocate] that much money towards a campaign, I can't understand why the Government wouldn't try to grab that and help," he said.
hannah.martin@news.net.au
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Funding row over tourism ads
Dengan url
http://obrasartikel.blogspot.com/2013/02/funding-row-over-tourism-ads.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Funding row over tourism ads
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar