Bundaberg Tourism has announced further COVID-19 support to the Bundaberg and North Burnett region’s tourism and hospitality businesses left reeling from the COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions, offering a relief package of no-cost membership for Bundaberg and North Burnett businesses for the 2020/21 financial year.
The membership-based organisation will extend all 2019/20 memberships for a further 12 months at no financial cost and offer a new-member package with dues waived until 30 June 2021 for qualifying businesses across the community.
The package is the latest in intensive industry support delivered by the organisation over the past months, including lockdown interpretation and business counselling, industry advocacy and major new marketing initiatives.
Katherine Reid, CEO of Bundaberg Tourism, said “With the challenges facing our tourism industry in 2020, it’s now more than ever that we need to band together as Team Bundaberg - to work strategically, to market collectively and to unite as a single voice for the destination.”
“Bundaberg Tourism is a membership-based organisation that relies on industry contributions in addition to local and state-government funding to market the destination, deliver visitor services and support the industry to deliver extraordinary visitor experiences at every touch point.”
“Thanks to Bundaberg Regional Council’s ongoing support of Bundaberg Tourism as the leading tourism industry organisation, we are in a position to provide subsidised memberships to our existing and new members within our region during a time of great hardship for our industry.”
“Additionally, with the funding support of the Queensland Government, we are waiving all co-operative investments in our marketing campaigns until the end of August, as we work hard to drive visitors back into the region and through the doors of our businesses, tours, attractions and accommodation houses in the safest way possible and for our economic recovery.”
Ross Peddlesden, Chair of Bundaberg Tourism, said “With nearly 50 years of hard work by Bundaberg Tourism and our vibrant tourism industry, our region has seen our visitors grow to record levels, and tourism has become one of the major economic drivers for the region.”
“Our proximity to the population of South East Queensland along with our unrivalled experiences including the state’s best Great Barrier Reef experiences, the Mon Repos turtle encounter and our iconic world-renowned culinary offerings mean we are perfectly placed to attract visitors back to the region – and we are already seeing this.”
“We remain committed to investing time, energy and resources into a united and strong business community so that as Team Bundaberg we are working smarter to grow the economy and to establish a thriving regional destination.”
The details of Bundaberg Tourism’s membership relief package are:
- All 2019/20 financial members (as of 1 April 2020) will have their membership term extended to 30 June 2021 at no cost;
- New members who operate a business within the Bundaberg and North Burnett Local Government Areas (LGA) will be eligible for a special New Membership package, with membership fees waived until 1 July 2021; and
- New members who operate a business outside the Bundaberg and North Burnett LGA boundaries will be eligible for membership at the 2019/20 rates.
Any business interested in discussing being part of Bundaberg Tourism can find the membership prospectus and application form on https://www.bundabergregion.org/corporate/membership or can contact Terri Taylor, Industry Relations Officer, on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
