December 2, 2022 | By Bronwen Largier
The Tasmanian Government has awarded funding to 18 projects through its $8 million Tourism Innovation Grants Program, following 331 applications, and there’s plenty in the pipeline for business events organisers.
Grant funding will support the development of several event spaces in the island state, including at the Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School, in the Derwent Valley, 30 minutes from Hobart, where a new outdoor event space is on the cards, at the new House of Splendid distillery in Swansea, where tours and experiences will also be on offer, an off-grid premium event space and fine dining restaurant as part of Kittawa Lodge on King Island, at Glencoe farm on the outskirts of Falmouth on Tasmania’s east coast, where there is an agri-tourism vision to be realised, complete with a variety of accommodation, tours and a showcase of beef and merino wool production, and at the Tasmanian Whisky Discovery Centre, by Lark Distillery, outside Hobart, where conference facilities are to be developed alongside a tasting bar.
Accommodation and experience projects are also in the mix including a boutique 36-room pod-style offering at Cradle Mountain Retreat and a new wilderness cruise from the Port Arthur historic site, by Pennicott Wilderness Journeys. The Dark Sky Event Hub at Port Arthur is also getting an upgrade thanks to the program, with the addition of amenities for cold and cloudy nights to the observatory.
“The funding is spread across our regions, which is one of the program’s key objectives and will support new visitor products and experiences to increase regional and repeat visitation,” said Tasmania’s Premier Jeremy Rockliff.
Grant recipients received anywhere between $50,000 and $1 million in funding.
