Extra tourism funding for region welcomed

Taranaki/King Country MP Barbara Kuriger has welcomed the opportunity for extra funding for tourism infrastructure in our region.

“Tourism is now a $14.5 billion export earner for New Zealand, with 188,000 people working in the industry. These visitors are incredibly important to our economy, particularly in the regions,” says Mrs Kuriger.

“We need to provide core facilities to support this tourism growth and continue to attract highvalue visitors. Such facilities benefit local residents and domestic tourists, as well as our international guests.

“In the last round of funding for the Regional Mid-sized Tourism Facilities Grant Fund, a total of $3 million was allocated to the best 14 projects. This saw the development of important amenities such as carparks, rubbish disposal and minor water management projects.

“Our local Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust was the recipient of $117,000 from the Regional Mid-sized Tourism Facilities Grant Fund in 2016 to construct five composting toilets and enhance the visitor entrance to MEIT,” says Mrs Kuriger.

“These facilities will enable the Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari visitor centre to cope with increasing numbers of visitors and cater to visitors arriving outside the visitor centre’s hours, and the composting toilets will meet growing visitor demand at the site.

“Due to the initial success of this scheme, an additional $5.5 million has been made available for further tourism infrastructure developments. This next round of funding could be an excellent opportunity to develop or improve tourism infrastructure in the Taranaki and King Country regions.”

Budget 2016 has allocated $12 million over four years for the Regional Mid-sized Tourism Facilities Grant Fund.

Applications for the second round of funding close at 4pm on Thursday, April 13.