SWEETEN THE DEAL

Tourism body wants fund to lure big events to regions

TASMANIA would be able to aggressively compete with the mainland in luring events to the state under a proposal by the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania.

The state’s tourism lobby wants a fund to lure big events to regional areas within the state so that it isn’t just Hobart cashing in on the visitor boom.

The TICT is urging whichever political party wins the next state election to establish an events attraction fund similar to those in other states.

Such funds are in place interstate, with Victoria putting $20 million behind a model aimed at securing large-scale events for its regional areas. The strategy aggressively focuses on improving economic outcomes for those areas.

TICT chief executive Luke Martin, below, has met both the Liberal and Labor parties to discuss the idea.

Mr Martin said there was not a lot of flexibility with the current model when it came to events in Tasmania.

“Funding should be concentrated on regional events not just seasonal events,” he said.

“It’s about supporting the impacts that those big events have and extending the spread to the regions. If we establish an events attraction fund, we can go after touring events that take place on the mainland and bring them here.”

When the North-West hosted the Australian Masters Games earlier this year, 5000 athletes and an additional 7000 people visited the region, spending up to $12 million.

Mr Martin said the fund would allow the state to move quickly if an opportunity to host the Games came up again, or secure something similar.

“There might be a visiting exhibition taking place in Melbourne or Sydney around the same time as Mofo or Dark Mofo that we can bring down to TMAG or QVMAG and capitalise on the momentum there,” he said.

“Or something similar to the Masters Games, having that [the fund] allows us to ensure that we are in the mix to get those big events that bring a lot of people to the state and to the regions.”

Premier and Tourism Minister Will Hodgman said it would be seriously considered.

“There’s no greater supporter of the visitor economy and the jobs it creates than my Government,” he said.

“We will be considering all proposals which support our target to create 45,000 jobs in the visitor economy by 2022.” Labor was asked to comment.