THE NSW Opposition has lashed out after a shortfall in funding forced the cancellation of this year's regional tourism awards.
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Shadow Minister for Investment and Tourism and Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison is calling on the NSW Government to sponsor the awards, through state tourism body Destination NSW, so they can go ahead this year.
It comes off the back of significant cuts to Destination NSW with the state government announcing a funding drop from $176.7 million in 2018/19 to $141.1 million in its 2019/20 budget.
The $35 million cut comes after a previous $30 million cut in the NSW Government's budget for 2017/18.
"The savage $65 million in cuts to Destination NSW over the last two budgets, have left the organisation without the capacity to step in and support regional tourism businesses across the state," Ms Aitchison said.
"Regional NSW is hurting right now. Tourism operators are hurting. This is a great risk to jobs all across regional communities.
"To lose the Regional Tourism Awards is just devastating and it's time the NSW Government backed in our tourism operators.
"It's not just the exposure and networking that make events like this so important but also the lift to morale it brings at such a difficult and critical time. Our tourism industry have so much to be proud of and promote but there is no budget to do it."
On the weekend the NSW Government announced its new Regional Event Fund as part of its $10 million Tourism Recovery package.
The package will include the Flagship Event Fund and a new Micro Event Fund which will offer up to $20,000 and $10,000 - respectively - to help groups promote and support regional events.
"The NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, has supported the NSW Tourism Awards annually," a spokesperson from Minister for Tourism Stuart Ayres office said
"It has provided support since 2004, and will continue to support the awards into the future. Local and regional tourism awards are the responsibility of local governments, chambers of commerce and local tourism organisations (LTOs)."
The regional tourism awards, which started in 2004, are a major tourism industry event for regional NSW, and are typically held in regional communities.
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