Henry County Tourism Authority

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Objectives

The main objectives of Henry County Tourism Authority are to:

  • Maximize the economic, tourism, social and cultural benefits of major events to Henry County.
  • Identify and assist in developing events which are appropriate to our image as a family-friendly, outdoor destination.
  • Integrate the promotion of major events with the marketing programs of Henry County in order to maximize the benefits for tourism.

Program Principles:

  • The Program is a support system that provides levels of assistance to events that achieve tourism outcomes of benefit to our region.  The program aims to support the structure and marketing activities of its tourism partners.
  • The Program seeks to identify and assist those events that express and contribute to the unique identity of the tourism of Henry County.
  • The Program supports events with significant tourism potential that can support our strategic direction.
  • Projects/events that are “market ready”, with a developed marketing plan and the capacity to grow incrementally over the funding period will have a greater likelihood of gaining cash support.
  • Projects/events are required to demonstrate a well-structured and organized management committee with the ability to handle issues such as public liability and insurance.
  • It is important that events demonstrate that they will not be reliant on continued support from HCTA for their long-term survival or growth.

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

Preference will be given to those tourism projects/events that will:

  • Have clearly defined objectives and measurable outcomes as part of an appropriate marketing plan identifying target markets.
  • Increase incremental tourism business by influencing visitors’ intention to travel to the region and to extend their length of stay.
  • Have event sustainability as evidenced by strong business/community support, and potential to grow and become self-funding.
  • Have a well-organized and structured management committee with capacity to handle event management issues.
  • Projects that have demonstrable long term impact on building or rebuilding our tourism infrastructure.
  • Occur during the shoulder/off peak season

Download a copy of the HCTA Application below:

HCTA Funding Application

Successful applicants will be subject to the following core conditions:

  • This program is available for projects/events taking place between 1 July and 30 June each applicable year.  Following selection of successful grant applicants relating to this period, no further funds will become available until the following year.
  • All projects/event partners of HCTA will be encouraged to utilize their partnership period to consolidate their financial position through seeking corporate and other support.
  • Progress reports on the project/event (including its marketing) are to be submitted to HCTA at agreed regular intervals.
  • HCTA reserves the right as a condition of funding to make use of project/event data for the purpose of market research and evaluation to enable long term development of events.
  • Conditions may include provision of a detailed evaluation and financial statement, detailing expenditure of the grant, which must be provided within two months of the completion of the project.  Failure to submit this evaluation report and financial statement will deem the applicants ineligible for future funding.
  • Funding may be provided prior to the project/event with the balance available after receipt of the Post Event Evaluation information.
  • No applicant will be guaranteed funding nor can any applicants be guaranteed funding support to the full amount requested.
  • Project/events will not be funded retrospectively.
  • Funding support is available to enhance the project/event and not to replace previous funding.
  • Local events approved by the committee for funding will receive funds as seed money and funding will decrease in subsequent years.
  • Grant monies are to be expended on agreed costs only – for example, costs may include advertising and promotion, marketing/public relation consultancies, market research, marketing planning, research and so on.
  • Grant monies will not be used for prize money or contributions to charitable groups.  Where some proceeds go to charity, evidence will be required to show adequate funds are retained for the ongoing operation of the event.
  • Where funding support is sought for a project/event that is a smaller part of an overall marketing plan, the application should also include a copy of the overall marketing plan.
  • All collateral marketing materials and advertising associated with the project/event must wherever possible carry the HCTA logo.
  • Should an application be successful all records relating to the project/event including expenditure must be retained by the applicant and made available for tourism marketing research.