Visitor Experience Enhancement Program (Round 9) – Australia

Round 9 of the VEEP has been redesigned to grow and enhance the tourism offering available to visitors to the Northern Territory. The program supports the development of new offerings, along with enhancing the visitor experience through improvements to existing offerings.

Program Streams

• Military heritage tourism offerings
  • This stream assists the military heritage tourism sector to undertake projects that will enhance their product or experience and deliver an improved onground visitor experience in the Northern Territory.
• New product and experience development
  • Developing and offering new tourism products and experiences in the Northern Territory not only sees a broader offering for visitors to the NT, it provides a reason for return visitation and positive publicity.
• Upgrading and enhancing existing offerings
  • This stream assists the tourism industry to undertake projects that will enhance their product or experience and deliver an improved on-ground visitor experience in the Northern Territory.
  • Projects which align to the following areas will be well regarded in this competitive grant round:
    • accessibility
    • sustainability
    • drive
    • low season (October to March)

Funding Information

• From a total funding pool of $3 million, VEEP offers three streams of funding, recognizing the additional resources required to kick start a new product, through a reduced co-contribution requirement.
  • Military heritage tourism offerings
    • $1 million funding pool
    • Grants of up to $80,000
    • Co-contribution of 50%
  • New product and experience development
    • $1 million funding pool
    • Grants of up to $150,000
    • Co-contribution of 25%
  • Upgrading and enhancing existing offerings
    • $1 million funding pool
    • Grants of up to $80,000
    • Co-contribution of 50%

Eligible Activities

• As a guide only, examples of projects may include (but are not limited to):
  • infrastructure upgrades to enhance the tourism visitor experience (e.g. new walking trails, upgraded or additional visitor accommodation, upgraded reception areas or foyers, retrofitting existing tour buses or cruise vessels)
  • implementation of new technology to improve the on-ground experience
  • development of new experiences that diversify the tourism offering in the region
  • applications that can demonstrate improved disability access (e.g. access ramps, accessible bathrooms, audio tours, vehicle modifications)
  • new tourism offerings and/or products that contribute to the conservation of the Territory’s natural and cultural values through enhanced sustainability (e.g. weather mitigation works leading to year-round product delivery)

Ineligible Activities

• Applications will not be accepted for:
  • the purchase or lease of mobile/portable assets including, but not limited to, computers (e.g. desktops or laptops), televisions, power tools, motor vehicles (e.g. cars, buses or motorcycles) and boats
  • activities/works/product orders that have commenced before the grant has been approved
  • upgrading or developing facilities predominantly for local community use or where there is no clearly defined visitor benefit
  • marketing, advertising and product promotion activities
  • regular repairs and maintenance
  • administrative or running costs that are normally the responsibility of a business (e.g. rent, insurances, auditing and finance costs etc.)
  • wages or salaries for an applicant’s employees
  • purchase or lease of real estate of any type.

Eligibility Criteria

• Military heritage tourism offerings
  • Applicants must:
    • connect specifically to the Northern Territory’s military heritage
    • demonstrate alignment to tourism related strategies
    • provide an itemised project budget accompanied by quotes from NT suppliers (quotes and invoices from family or other registered business aligned to the applicant will not be accepted)
    • outline a project plan with timeframe and commit resources to completing the project as outlined
    • have a registered ABN and be a Territory enterprise
    • be a member of a peak industry body related to tourism in the Northern Territory
    • offer online bookable products or experiences
    • provide at minimum a matching cash contribution
• New product and experience development
  • Applicants must:
    • express a vision to provide an innovative product or experience
    • demonstrate alignment to Northern Territory tourism related strategies
    • have a registered ABN and be a Territory enterprise
    • be a member of a peak industry body related to tourism in the Northern Territory
    • provide a business plan which outlines financial viability, competitive analysis and considers seasonality (approximately 2-3 pages)
    • outline the project budget, timeframe and consider approvals/permits required
    • seek Territory enterprises for project delivery (quotes and invoices from family or other registered business aligned to the applicant will not be accepted)
    • be committed to the development of a bookable tourism product or experience
    • provide a cash contribution which is a minimum of 25% of the total project cost
• Upgrading and enhancing existing offerings
  • Applicants must:
    • demonstrate alignment to Northern Territory tourism related strategies
    • provide an itemised project budget accompanied by quotes from NT suppliers (quotes and invoices from family or other registered business aligned to the applicant will not be accepted)
    • outline a project plan with timeframe and commit resources to completing the project as outlined
    • have a registered ABN and be a Territory enterprise
    • be a member of a peak industry body related to tourism in the Northern Territory
    • offer online bookable products or experiences
    • provide at minimum a matching cash contribution.

For more information, visit Tourism NT.