“The Tourism Industry Council NSW welcomes news of an extension to the Government’s $5.1 Million Regional Tourism Partnership Program for a further twelve months”, its General Manager Andrew Jefferies has said today.

The announcement from the Minister for Tourism and Major Events, The Hon. George Souris, followed this afternoon’s delivery of the New South Wales budget for the 2012/13 financial year is positive news for our state’s Regional Tourism Organisations that rely upon funding commitments to help deliver beneficial outcomes across our state’s industry.

“This 12-month extension of funding will give the Government and stakeholders adequate time to consider the recommendations of the Visitor Economy Taskforce (VET) and prepare for any changes.” said Mr Souris. In addition, the Minister also advised that “the VET will be presenting their findings in the near future and that the Government will take a short period to consider its recommendations before releasing it publicly.”

“The Tourism Industry Council NSW welcomes the Minister’s news about the imminent findings and release of the Visitor Economy Taskforce report and looks forward to seeing recommendations that help reach the target to double overnight visitor expenditure by the year 2020.”