Rise Up for our River - new tourism recovery program launches

An important day for the recovery of the Riverland and Murray River Lakes & Coorong regions, with the launch of the SATC’s new dedicated Murray River marketing campaign and River Revival Voucher program.

The $4.6 million river recovery campaign urges South Australians to “Rise Up for our River” in 2023.

More than 25,000 vouchers will be released over three rounds through until the end of the year, expected to inject millions into the communities hit hard by the once-in-a-century Murray River flood.

Round one has vouchers of $50, $100 and $200, to be used for experiences and accommodation in the Riverland and Murray River, Lakes & Coorong regions.

A $750 houseboat and guided tours voucher will also be introduced in rounds two and three, which will run in the winter and spring periods when most houseboats are expected to be fully operational again.

The first round of River Revival Vouchers is valid for travel during April, May and June – including the Easter break and April school holidays.

A crucial part of getting to this point has been the input and insights from industry. I really want to thank operators and industry stakeholders in the Murray River regions, whose feedback and insights have informed this campaign from the ground up.

We do know that many operators are still very much in recovery, and that’s why this campaign is a staggered approach and will run for the rest of the calendar year.

We stand ready to support all tourism businesses across the regions through the clean-up process, and into rebuilding – and to ensure tourism returns stronger than ever.

Today, the State Government also announced an additional $500,000 will be provided for a further round targeted towards businesses that are still to reopen, such as affected areas of the Mid-Murray Council region – boosting the initial announced tourism recovery program total of $4.1 million.

In the coming weeks, the SATC will be onboarding tourism businesses to the voucher program, getting ready for the ballot to open to consumers on 27 March.

An Expressions of Interest for businesses to participate will open this Wednesday, 1 March.

We will be keeping a close eye on the campaign and voucher uptake and will continue to work closely with the River Recovery Working Group to ensure we are maximising the opportunities that the campaign provides.

For more information about today’s announcement, please see the media release.

Further detail for operators to participate is now available at tourism.sa.gov.au and consumers can now register their interest in receiving information about the River Revival Vouchers at southaustralia.com/voucher.

Thank you,

Emma Terry
Chief Executive Officer