“Now’s The Time To Love NSW” – $10 million tourism recovery package to rebuild NSW

NSW tourism will receive a $10m Tourism Recovery package to encourage visitation to NSW, fund new local events and assist tourism businesses to develop, promote and sell their tourism products.

The first phase of the plan launches with a new community-driven campaign – Now’s The Time To Love NSW – urging travellers to book a getaway which gives back.

To kickstart the campaign, people are being invited to take a #RecoveryWeekend in NSW, stay and spend locally, take photos showcasing NSW featuring hands in the shape of a heart and share them on social media with the tag #LoveNSW generating authentic, real-time imagery of NSW’s many holiday destinations.

The recovery package was informed by input from the tourism industry, tourism associations and the Destination Networks and will target domestic and international markets.

Now’s The Time To Love NSW builds on and complements Tourism Australia’s recently launched Holiday Here This Year domestic tourism campaign and is funded by both State and Federal investments.

South Australia - “Help them out, #BookThemOut”,

The SA Tourism Commission has launched a recovery campaign for the regions devastated by bush fires in South Australia. The campaign, whilst not specifically focused on Rec fishing, it focuses on working in partnership with the tourism industry. The campaign is designed to encourage people locally, as well as those interstate to travel (‘book out’) the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island for a holiday, short stay or experience – an integral part of the long-term recovery strategy.

The campaign is being launched across TV, press and outdoor, as well as digital and social media platforms, with a large part of the campaign driven through social, user generated content and PR. Watch the first ad here.

Regional Tourism Bush Fire Recovery Grants

The Federal Government has announced a $10 million Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants program.  The grants program is part of the Government’s $76 million tourism recovery package to protect jobs, small businesses and local economies by helping get tourists travelling into bushfire affected regions.

The Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants program will have two funding streams which, together, will support events, concerts, festivals and visitor attractions in fire affected regions to assist with recovery efforts and encourage international and domestic visitors to come back to the regions.

Applications for the program opened on 17 February 2020. For further details visit

The Federal Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grant is $30K per applicant for small events under – Stream 2 which closes on Friday 20 March 2020. If your community is considering local events to support tourism please ensure you apply soon.

Stream 1 is for larger events and programs conducted by LGA & Tourism Agencies.

https://www.austrade.gov.au/Australian/Tourism/Tourism-and-business/Grants/regional-tourism-bushfire-recovery-grants

Victoria’s Golden Tag Competition

The Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) has established a tag-recapture competition that will encourage recreational fishers of all abilities back to East Gippsland and the North East Victoria with their families and friends, spending money and helping local communities get back on their feet.

Recreational fishing in Gippsland and the north east is worth more than $600 million annually, supports over 3,800 jobs and is a major contributor to regional communities that depend on tourism.

The golden tag competition species are black bream, dusky flathead and King George whiting in East Gippsland, and, Murray cod, brown trout and rainbow trout in the north east.

The first 10 tagged fish to be reported caught by fishers after the competition begins will earn the lucky fisher a $10,000 cheque, with tagged fish beyond the first 10 to be awarded a $2,000 cash prize.  The tags are standard T-Bar fish tags and are specially marked yellow with the following wording on the tag “VFA WINNER Golden tag Ph 0396584737”.

The competition will bring people back to towns like Mallacoota, Cann River, Bemm River, Orbost, Marlo, Lakes Entrance, Lake Tyers, Omeo, Dartmouth, Mitta Mitta, Corryong, Tallangatta and Bright.

All these places are well known for their inland and estuarine fishing, boasting terrific opportunities for shore-based and boat-based fishers of all skill levels.

For details and rules and a full list of frequently asked questions, click here.