Tourism Council welcomes events funding

The tourism industry has welcomed additional state government funding for regional events.

The government today announced a one-off extraordinary round of funding of up to $300,000 for Eventscorp’s Regional Events Scheme (RES).

Tourism Minister Kim Hames said the funding was available for smaller and developing events to be held in the 2012 calendar year.

“RES is administered by Eventscorp and supports a range of regional events across the State to attract visitors, add vibrancy to regional areas and increase the host town’s profile through media exposure,” Dr Hames said.

The RES funding was doubled in the 2011-12 State Budget to $600,000.

Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls said the extraordinary one-off RES round was offered due to the high level of interest from event organisers for regional event funding.

“The 2011-12 RES funding resulted in 39 events being supported, including 20 which were funded for the first time,” Mr Grylls said.

Applications for the one-off extraordinary round close on October 26, 2011 at 4pm.

Tourism Council WA CEO Evan Hall said regional tourism operators are having a tough year as they battle to compete with Bali.

“This funding will provide a real boost for next year’s tourism trade in our regions”.

“Just a bit of extra funding can help a small town festival get noticed in Perth and the east coast cities,” said Mr Hall “If you have a good event with passionate participants spectators will flock to your region.”