Thirteen South Australian tourism business will share in more than $500,000 funding through the third round of the State Government's Experience Nature Tourism Fund.
Managed by the South Australian Tourism Commission, the fund aims to support tourism experiences that showcase our state's stunning nature and wildlife, helping attract domestic and international visitors.
E-bike tour operator Bike About is one of the successful grant recipients, receiving $50,000 to purchase a vehicle and e-bikes to bring a new 7-day tour to market in the Flinders Ranges & Outback and Clare Valley.
Bike About Director/Owner Daniel Young said he was looking forward to sharing more of SA's beautiful national parks with international and domestic visitors.
"Traditionally, we’ve operated day trips and our 7-day SA food and wine tour among the regions close to Adelaide, including the Adelaide Hills and Barossa," Mr Young said.
"We knew from speaking to our customers that there was demand for a longer tour that went further afield."
He said demand for the new tour was already strong, with July and August sold out.
Other projects to receive funding include:
Clare Valley, Wander - $48,694 to purchase e-bikes, related equipment, picnic packs and storage sheds for hire from Wander at Paulett Wines, providing guests a low impact way to get to Spring Gully Conservation Park.
Eyre Peninsula, Fowlers Bay Caravan Park - $50,000 to purchase a vehicle and equipment to introduce new guided tag-along tours within the Fowlers Bay Conservation Park.
Eyre Peninsula, Flinders Island Eco Escape - $42,798 to build a trailer to transport guest luggage and supplies to Flinders Island and marketing activities.
Flinders Ranges & Outback, Wadna - $19,898 to enhance visitor services including facilities and interpretive signage for visitors joining the tours into the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park.
Kangaroo Island, Kangaroo Island Touring Company - $50,000 to purchase a luxury touring vehicle for private touring into national parks and delivery of luxury touring of multi-day guided walks along the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail.
Kangaroo Island, Kangaroo Island Ocean Safari - $43,000 to purchase cold weather snorkelling gear to provide comfort year-round and increase the offering in the off season for tours entering the Encounter Marine Park.
Kangaroo Island, Sea Dragon Kangaroo Island - $50,000 to purchase a vehicle to operate new nature-based experiences visiting various national parks across Cape Willoughby and Dudley Peninsula.
Limestone Coast, Penola Coonawarra Caravan Park - $15,854 to purchase e-bikes to run e-bike, walking and bird watching tours to the Penola Conservation Park including visits to other local businesses and wine tasting.
Limestone Coast, Coonawarra Experiences - $50,000 to purchase a vehicle, equipment and marketing activities to launch two new tours – Caves and Coast and Culture and Caves - visiting national parks in the Limestone Coast.
Limestone Coast, Walk the Limestone Coast - $11,640 for the creation of videography and photography assets to promote Limestone Coast Escape tour which enters multiple national parks in the region.
Murray River, Lakes & Coorong, Freedom Boat Hire - $50,000 to purchase a Pontoon Boat to run new on-river nature-based tours from Murray Bridge.
Riverland, Canoe the Riverland - $50,000 to purchase a Pontoon Boat with transport to run new tours along river allowing visitors to experience less accessible areas of Riverland national parks.
The Experience Nature Tourism Fund will deliver four rounds of funding over four years. More than $1.5 million has already been allocated over the first three rounds, to support 46 projects.
Applications for the fourth and final round of funding will open in mid-2025.
For more information, visit Experience Nature Tourism Fund.
