Recovery grants for cyclone affected FNQ tourism operators

More than 70 tourism operators impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper are set to receive support through the $10 million Tourism Exceptional Assistance Grants program.

Funded by the Queensland and Australian Governments under the joint Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA), grants up to $500,000 are available to businesses severely affected by the cyclone that made landfall in Far North Queensland mid-December 2023.

The assistance will help tourism operators of all sizes that were decimated by the cyclone’s devastating rainfall and flooding, leaving them unable to trade during one of the busiest periods on the calendar.

Eligible to FNQ businesses that were isolated for at least two weeks, the grants will cover business costs such as wages and salaries, fuel, rent, and other supplies.

Successful applicants include 23 operators located north of the Daintree River such as Cape Tribulation, and 19 Port Douglas businesses.

The funding is part of a wider government exceptional circumstances recovery package designed to help rejuvenate Far North Queensland and get the region back on its feet as quickly as possible.

Local businesses are also being encouraged to apply for the Building Resilient Tourism Infrastructure Fund. 

This additional $10 million fund will allow tourism businesses to improve their future disaster resilience by investing in flood resilient infrastructure and other disaster mitigating equipment.

Both programs are jointly funded through the DRFA as part of the Tourism Recovery and Resilience Program, a $24.15 million investment from the state and Commonwealth that acknowledges the vital role tourism plays in the Far North, both as an employer and for the wider economy.

To date, the Queensland and Australian Governments have committed $111.5 million to support the long-term recovery of communities impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.