South Australian (SA) Premier Steven Marshall has announced his government will invest $25 million into nature-based tourism in the state’s regions to attract tourists and create local jobs if he is re-elected in March.
As part of the fund, businesses that support and encourage visitors to travel to regional areas and enjoy SA’s parks, rangelands, reservoirs, waterways and marine environments can apply for grants from $20,000 to $1 million to support their projects.
Marshall said that in coming out of the COVID-19 crisis, the SA Government had given a leg up to small businesses, particularly in the tourism sector, so that they could create more jobs.
“A leg up, not a hand out, a leg up and making sure we can do everything we can to support the great regional tourism opportunities across our state,” Marshall said.
“We know that eco-tourism is a very, very fast-growing sector. We’re out there talking about this sector because we want to create more interstate; we want to create more international visitation into our regions.”
When deciding on which businesses will receive grants, among factors being considered are how many short and long-term jobs will be created and whether the businesses can co-contribute to the project.
The SA Government contributed $280,000 towards the restaurant’s development project, while the owners themselves invested more than $1 million.
“So, we’re really working with the owners, the proprietors, to re-invest in their business, to create that incentive to re-invest in their business, but mainly to improve the standard right across regional South Australia,” Marshall said.
