TOURISM A BIG WINNER AS
THE Palaszczuk Government has locked away more than half of the funding it needs to deliver The Spit Master Plan.
A regional action plan released with the Budget Papers yesterday listed the $60 million upgrade of The Spit as one of six key benefits for the Gold Coast.
Budget Papers showing forward spending to 2023 say “the government has committed $60 million of which $31 million is held centrally”.
Treasury officials confirmed the funding was available for when the Government finalised the plan and was ready to spend on building it.
The Government yesterday announced increased funding of $1 million as part of a $2.5 million media campaign “to position the Gold Coast as a must-visit for families from the key visitor markets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane”.
Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones said record tourism funding of $153.8 million was up
$20 million from 2018.
“For the first time in a decade, our share of the visitor market is growing faster than NSW and Victoria,” she said, adding major events had doubled in value, tipped to generate $800 million in 2019.
“More tourists than ever