Tourism Product Development Fund

What is the Tourism Product Development Fund?

The Tourism Product Development Fund is a program that provides matched funding to ACT tourism and hospitality operators to help them start or develop a tourism offering.

Background

In January 2021, the ACT Government announced the establishment of the COVID Safe Tourism Co-Investment Program (CSTCIP), which provided funding support for the development of COVID safe tourism products and infrastructure. The CSTCIP sought to help the tourism industry recover from the significant impacts of COVID-19.

The CSTCIP had$1.5 million in funding available, with $750,000 to be allocated to successful industry-led projects in each financial year of 2020-21 and 2021-22.

A new name has been developed for the program in 2021-22 – the Tourism Product Development Fund (TPDF). The program will again require a 1:1 matched cash contribution from applicants (this matched contribution can be secured through other grant programs, but cannot include inkind contributions).

Objectives

The objectives of the Tourism Product Development Fund are to:

• Drive economic growth in the ACT through increased visitor numbers and/or increased visitor expenditure.
• Support the recovery of the tourism, hospitality and events industry sectors and provide opportunities for job creation through investment in one or more of the following:
  • infrastructure to deliver improved visitor experiences (new experiences or expansion of existing ones).
  • development of new and innovative products and/or experiences.
  • technology or systems to assist with development and or delivery of COVIDsafe practices.

The intended outcomes of the Tourism Product Development Fund are to:

• Encourage development of new infrastructure and/or experiences that attract more visitors and/or lead to increased visitor length of stay and increased visitor spend, while also enhancing Canberra’s reputation as a destination.
• Encourage enhancement of infrastructure that will expand an existing tourism product.
• Build industry resilience in a COVID environment.
• Increase the supply of new experiences to fill a gap in the market.
• Build innovative solutions to support operations through industry collaboration.

Funding

For 2021-22, the Tourism Product Development Fund has $750,000 in funding available. This will be offered under a single funding round. 

Organisations can apply for funding between $10,000 and $100,000 (excluding GST). Applicants must have matched cashfunding to support the ACT Government’s contribution. This matched funding may be sourced from either private funds or
Commonwealth Government funding, or a combination of both.

Eligible Projects

The types of projects that may be considered for funding, include:

• new private sector investment in tourism infrastructure (e.g. building, technology, online programs)
• projects that require infrastructure builds or upgrades to create new tourism/hospitality/event experiences
• investment in, or the development of, innovative solutions or technology to support the industry recover from the impacts of COVID–19 or to manage business operations under ongoing restrictions
• investment in, or the development of, Indigenous tourism experiences
• shovel–ready projects that are able to commence construction or production within 12 weeks of execution of the Agreement.

Eligible Applicants

To be eligible, you must be an ACT-based tourism or hospitality business that:

• has an Australian business number (ABN)
• has current Public Liability Insurance coverage to a minimum level of $10 million
• is incorporated in the ACT under the Associations Incorporation Act 1991, or a company registered under the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) with its principal place of business in the ACT
• is registered for good and services tax (GST), if applicable (if turnover is greater than $150,000 per annum).

Timing

Applications close 31 May 2022.

More Information

• Source
• Tourism Product Development Fund Guidelines

2020 – 21 Recipients