“This funding will provide a great boost to tourism in the Blue Mountains region, home to some of the most scenic and beautiful areas of NSW. The money will be used to conduct a festivals, events and short breaks campaign for the Blue Mountains and surrounding areas, using electronic and online marketing tools to entice visitors to the region,” Mr Souris said.

“The Blue Mountains area is one of the most popular for visitors to NSW, and it is critical we continue to support the local industry. This campaign will use ongoing public relations activities to raise awareness of the most popular attractions in the region as well as the largest festivals and events. Funding has been made available under the Government’s Regional Visitor Economy Fund’s inaugural round of quarantined funding.”

Earlier this year, the NSW Government committed $21.6 million to the Regional Visitor Economy Fund over three years – a $6 million increase – delivering a NSW Government commitment as outlined in the Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan.

Member for the Blue Mountains, Roza Sage, said: “This grant and campaign is great news for the region and for its visitor economy. Visitors to the Blue Mountains make a vital contribution to the local economy, and growing the tourism industry is critical for the growth of the area. Through this campaign Blue Mountains, Lithgow and Oberon Tourism aims to grow overnight spend in the region by 5 per cent over the next 12 months.”

The grant was announced at Australia’s most visited privately owned attraction: Scenic World, home to the famous Scenic Railway, which recently underwent a $30 million renovation. The joint managing directors and owners of Scenic World are Anthea Hammon and David Hammon. Ms Hammon said: “The Blue Mountains has so much to offer local, interstate and international visitors, including world class attractions, a strong calendar of events and some of the best landscapes in the world. We welcome the funding boost, and look forward to seeing the positive effect the campaign will have on tourism in our World Heritage-listed region.”

Tourism to regional NSW was worth more than $12.8 billion in visitor expenditure in 2012, an increase of more than three per cent compared to the previous year.

Information on the Regional Visitor Economy Fund is available on the Destination NSW website, at: destinationnsw.com.au/RVEF

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