BENDIGO arts organisations will be able to develop and promote arts and cultural events for tourists across the regions with a recent funding boost.
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Announced at the Bendigo Art Gallery on Friday, the $5 million Regional Arts Fund Cultural Tourism Accelerator program is designed to support regional artists, arts workers and organisations to develop new events, programs and performance opportunities that will attract audiences from across the nation.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts Paul Fletcher said Bendigo and the art gallery were perfect contenders for the funding.
"Bendigo is a beautiful place and the art gallery is known around Australia as a gallery that punches well above its weight," he said.
"A lot of people come from Melbourne and indeed other capital cities to visit and see either the permanent collections or large events such as the forthcoming Elvis Presley exhibition, which I'm sure will attract a lot of visitors.
"It's a great example of the kind of activity we want to encourage and stimulate with this program."
Regional Arts Australia executive director Ros Abercrombie said the program would cover four categories that individuals and groups can apply for.
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"There's two marketing categories that will be worth $2500 each and are designed for social media campaigns or something quick," she said.
"Then there's a monthly campaign section worth up to $10,000 and will allow recipients to actually appoint a publicist or maybe expand a campaign already in existence.
"The two other categories are very different, the first is an experience initiative valued at $10,000 which will attract incentives to work with another business or with other industries such as hospitality or retail.
"And finally, the last category is worth $15,000 and will be for individual organisations to make partnerships with other industries to increase tourism for the cities they're in."
Mr Fletcher said it was important to assist in reviving these industries after a difficult 18 months.
"The arts and cultural sector is a key contributor to the prosperity of Australia's regional economy and will play a strong role in bringing tourists back to the regions," he said.
"As the vaccine rollout continues and states and territories open up, supporting activities such as festivals, events and visual art exhibitions in regional communities will be critical to attracting tourists and visitors.
"Accelerating tourism to regional communities will help them rebound from the devastating impacts of the pandemic."
Mr Fletcher could not confirm whether the encouragement of regional travel would extend to announcing funding for Bendigo's new airport terminal.
"The federal government has a very strong commitment to regional Australia and we engage closely with local councils and regional advocates all around the country to assess the merits of specific projects," he said.
"We always look at these things with an open mind."
Applications will open on November 16.
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