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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-07-06 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Regional Tourism

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Tourism. Can the minister advise the house how the Malinauskas Labor government is supporting tourism businesses in our regions?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Tourism, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:51): I thank the member for Light, who may well be the gateway to the Barossa. There is easier access now with the wonderful road so that people can enjoy their time there. Our regions are having a renaissance in tourism. I am so pleased to see South Australians discover their own backyard post COVID, but this continues and now 48¢ in every dollar in our visitor economy is spent in our regions.

Of course, a key part of my focus has been on the river revival, and I haven't taken my eyes off the river. Round 2 of our River Revival Vouchers is rolling out now. I am so pleased to share with the house that we have already seen 2,415 bookings. These are redemptions of people's vouchers as of this morning, and that is $2.1 million of direct investment going in there.

For the very first time, houseboats are included, with $750 vouchers. These were developed in consultation with industry to assist those businesses that were hardest hit, remembering that they were hit the first. They had to close very early on, and because they took time to come back we really wanted to support them. Usually the winter period is a quiet period on the river. Summer is their peak time, but it is absolutely stunning at this time of the year, so I would encourage all South Australians, whether you have a voucher or not, that it is time to go to our river regions.

One houseboat operator who is incredibly active and out there is Riverfun Houseboats, and within hours of round 2 vouchers being released they saw more than 20 inquiries and nine confirmed bookings. We know, because we took the time to talk with industry, and industry impacted so heavily, how this could work the best for them. That is whom our focus is on and how we support our industries in the river regions.

It is not just the river that is getting our attention. We are about to announce round 2 of our Experience Nature Tourism Fund that supports businesses that connect visitors with our spectacular national parks. It is a $2 million fund to increase investment in nature-based tourism experiences. These grants range from $10,000 to $50,000 for new and improved tourism products and experiences. They need to be in or near a national park, reserve, wilderness protection area or marine park.

What we want to do is showcase our state's natural landscapes. We know that through COVID people were keen to get out and about, experience our outback and experience our wilderness, and we have seen an increase in visitors to national parks since that time. But what we want to keep on producing are these world-class products and experiences.

Round 1 or year 1 of ENTF has seen a total of $485,000 allocated to 18 projects, but the total project value was more than $800,000. We saw some incredible products come to fruition like a sailing journey to marine parks, a cultural immersion experience, a luxury camping experience and e-bike tours in Cleland Wildlife Park. Round 2 applications will open on Monday 31 July and close on Friday 15 September.

I love going out to our regions. Just last weekend I was up at the Flinders visiting our Pichi Richi rail volunteers, who are very passionate about the work they do, but I was also up there to relaunch an extension of Flinders Gin. It is a bit tough having a gin at 10am on a Sunday but I did it. To Alby and Leah Trotta, Alby a former Kapunda guy—pandemic business—and now they are winning international awards for their gin.

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