It’s a shame that one of Maitland’s major annual events has been postponed, but there have been some positives elsewhere in the region’s tourism sector this week.
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Organisers have confirmed that the Maitland River Run, usually held in May, has been postponed because the completion date of the first stage of The Levee has been pushed back to August.
While they have not cancelled the run for this year, organisers have not yet named a new date for the popular event.
If it is cancelled, the city could miss out on the $200,000 annual injection that the river run puts into the
city’s economy.
But news that the state government has earmarked $1 million to promote Hunter tourism in the wake of April’s superstorm is a boost for the region’s visitor economy.
The money will be spent on new and existing marketing campaigns that promote Maitland, Dungog and other parts of the Hunter so that potential visitors aren’t scared away from coming to a region that has been widely described as a disaster zone in recent weeks.
The funding has been welcomed from all corners, including the state opposition.
Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison has called on the government to extend similar financial help to other small business types that were affected by the storm.
Hunter Valley tourism spokesman Andrew Margan told the Mercury that many operators simply wanted the word out that they were open for business and were ready to show visitors a good time.
People flocked to the vineyards on the weekend to the annual Lovedale Long Lunch, which attracted more visitors to the event than last year.
The success of the long lunch shows that the Hunter still has some tourism pulling power, only weeks after a natural disaster.