Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton and Member for Barwon Kevin Humphries announced that local museum Lightning Ridge Opal and Fossil Centre had received a grant of $97,500 to support a $195,000 project to develop a 50 person, dormitory style accommodation at the Centre.
Mr Humphries said the grant support was from the 2017/18 round of the Tourism Demand-Driver Infrastructure (TDDI) program, a Commonwealth funded initiative administered by the State Government to support tourism projects that drive demand and increase local tourism expenditure.
“I’m delighted to announce funding to support the design, development and construction proposal for a 50 person, dormitory style accommodation space at Walgett.
“The proposal will be targeted toward educational groups which place high demand on the limited existing accommodation in the area.”
Member for Parkes Mark Coulton said the Commonwealth has allocated funding through the TDDI to state and territory governments for tourism infrastructure projects where project proponents provide or source matching funding.
“This funding will support the delivery of projects that contribute to Tourism 2020 outcomes, namely to achieve more than $115 billion in overnight visitor spending by 2020 (up from $70 billion in 2009).
“This program is national, with 41 projects supported in NSW by the TDDI and funded to the sum of $9.25 million,” Mr Coulton said.
NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said the tourism sector is worth $33.2 billion per year in international and domestic visitor expenditure to the NSW economy and directly employs 164,000 people.
“Tourism is one of our state’s most important sectors and support for projects like this is vital to help local communities and economies grow and prosper.
“At the heart of the sector’s success are the many hard-working individuals and businesses across NSW who work tirelessly to deliver world-class tourism experiences like this one,” he said.
