A government tourism body and two councils have received $425,000 to help tourism bounce back in the wake of the Wye River bushfires.
Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism (GORRT) and the Surf Coast and Colac Otway shires will use the state government money for destination marketing, brand asset development, events support and a domestic advertising campaign.
Minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford said the funding was aimed at stimulating tourism and attracting visitors to the area.
“The funding addresses immediate concerns about a potential fall in accommodation bookings and aims to boost visitor numbers in the lead up to Easter and the school holiday period,” she said.
“Second to the Christmas-New Year period, Easter is a key time for local tourism related business to generate revenue.
“This much-needed funding boost will be critical for local tourism in the lead up to the Easter holidays.
“With the added attraction of the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, now is a great time to plan a trip to the Great Ocean Road.”
GORRT chair Wayne Kayler Thomson said the funds would assist the region and individual destinations to drive tourism from Melbourne and regional Victoria through autumn and winter.
“GORRT has worked with industry and community leaders to develop a suite of destination action plans aiming to grow the visitor economy for the region, which benefits destinations in the short term while laying the foundations to build a more sustainable and resilient visitor economy.”
The funding comes from State Government’s $1 million Economic and Community Recovery Fund to support medium to long term recovery priorities.
