"You're 3 Steps Away From The $100,000 TQUAL Grant"

Applications Close @ 5pm April 19th  ...Hurry!

Dear Australian Tourism Operator,  

 The last 4 years have been tough for the Tourism industry with the sector experiencing a number of challenges including:

1. The high Aussie dollar (which increased from 60 US cents to above $1US dollar) decreasing the number of overseas tourists while also encouraging Australians to take their holidays overseas
2. Reduced tourist willingness to spend due to nancial and economic uncertainty
3. Increase in operating costs (wages and equipment) as prices continue to increase way above inflation
4. Competition from existing and new players – who are pushing prices down and eroding your (already slim) prot margin.

On top of everything your business also needs to deal with government bureaucracy in the form of licences, permits, BAS, and Tax.

Fortunately, the Australian Government has nally recognised the burden faced by Australian tourism operators and the value of their contribution to the broad economy.

In fact, did you know that your business and Australian tourism:

1. Is relied upon by 500,000+ Australians for employment
2. Employs 1 in every 12 working Australians
3. Contributes $33 billion per year to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Australia
4. Is Australia’s largest service export (contributing 8% of Australia’s total export earnings)
5. Generates wealth across the country (around 46 cents from every dollar of tourism expenditure occurs in regional Australia).

The Australian Government has therefore allocated $40 million over 4 years for TQUAL Grants to stimulate sustainable economic growth in the Australian tourism industry. The $100,000 grant is provided to ensure that there is a supply of quality tourism products and experiences to support marketing promises.

Don't be Fooled by a 'Free' Lunch

The $40 million TQUAL program can certainly help you to further develop your tourism business. However, you may be reluctant to invest time and energy to complete the grant application.

This is particularly true when you're asking for the full $100,000 ...it gets extremely competitive.

In fact, did you know that in Round 4 of NRRHIP (a similar infrastructure program)…

86% of Applicants were Unsuccessful!

That's right... almost 9 out of 10 people who applied, were rejected. This is how competitive the next round of TQUAL is expected to be. After all, how many tourist providers will miss their chance to get $100,000 for their business.

It's your choice... to be:

1. Part of this statistic in the next TQUAL round ... or
2. In the top 10% of applicants that 'get the money'

This may be the Last TQUAL Grant Round!

While the $40 million is allocated over 4 years to TQUAL grants, the actual projects must be completed in March, 2013, meaning there won't be enough time to hold more TQUAL grant rounds.

That's why BEFORE you even consider starting an application, answer the following 3 questions:

1. When was the last time you successfully applied for a competitive government grant?
2. Do you have time to read through 100+ pages of guidelines and supporting material?
3. Do you even know where to start?

Introducing the TQUAL Grant 'Solution'...

We can help by:

1. Doing most of the work
2. Taking most of the risk

We've came up with a 'done-for- you' VIP Service which is tailored to tourist operators and includes:

• A diagnostic consultation to fully understand your project
• A comprehensive 11 page pre-application guide
• Project strategy development to maximise your chances of success
• Writing and completing the application on your behalf
• Inclusion of 10+ relevant references / statistics to support and strengthen your argument
• Comprehensive 10+ page demography analysis identifying local service needs
• Actuarial analysis and mathematical calculations to justify the benefits of your project
• Coaching and mentoring throughout the process
• Letter of Support Template (along with 10 sources to approach)
• Independent quality assurance
• A Comprehensive Checklist prior to application submission

Our unique TQUAL grant submission methodology will maximise your chance of being successful while minimising your involvement (as you probably have better things to do than to ‘stuff around’ with grant paperwork).

We've recently completed a large number of grants and received positive feedback from our clients (who rated us on average 9 out of 10). Many clients also expressed their ‘surprise’ at the amount of work  involved– something they only realised once we delivered them the final application (which exceeded their expectations).

Best of all, Grant Solutions is primarily compensated on results (rather than effort). A major component of our compensation is only charged if the grant application is approved.

Our consultants understand the tourism industry, have interrogated the international trade and tourism policy papers and know what the government is looking for. We therefore expect that our clients will be successful (providing they are eligible and have genuine merit) while identical projects of non-clients will be deemed unsuccessful. The key point of difference will be our ability to communicate the value of these projects in a way that gets them ‘across the line’.

Grant Solutions has successfully obtained individual grants ranging from $100K to $7M so writing a $100,000 submission is well within our level of expertise.

In fact, 2 of our clients unsuccessfully applied themselves ... and didn't want to (nor could they afford to) be rejected again. 

This time, they used our services… and were successful.

 Why do TQUAL applications fail?

The majority of unsuccessful submissions do have significant merit… but they are unable to successfully communicate that merit through the application form. Even if they did a good job… there was still too much competition (302 applicants for 42 funded projects in NRRHIP Round 4). 

So ask yourself… is it worthwhile to invest 50+ hours into the grant application process, knowing that your chances of success is around 10%?

Or wouldn't you rather invest that time into your business… and let Grant Solutions handle the TQUAL application (so your chances of ‘getting the money’ improve dramatically)?

There is however a Catch… and it’s important

We won’t be able to handle the anticipated number of clients needing our services. We’ll try to help as many as possible, but once we’ve reached capacity… ‘all bets are off’.

There will be a waiting list but regrettably many will miss out. We want to help everyone… but will be forced to say ‘no’ to prevent our team from being overloaded and overwhelmed (especially as the submission deadline approaches).

On previous occasions clients have:

• Tried to reach us outside of office hours (including Saturday and Sunday)
• Offered compensation far above our standard fees
• Claimed we accepted them as clients (when we only said ‘maybe’)

In each case these requests were regrettably but firmly declined (as we’ve already had a long waiting list).

Realistically you probably have only a few days to decide (March 16^th at the latest) before that decision is made for you. We’re happy to answer questions, provided that you’ve carefully read all the information available on this page. Please keep in mind that we’ll be working at capacity and our priority will be to assist existing clients with their projects (rather than focusing on acquiring new clients). 

Sounds FAIR doesn't it? We think so and so do our satisfied clients.

Interested? These are the Next Steps...

Ross Turetsky MBA, BCom, BInfosys
Managing Director, Grant Solutions

Tourism Quality Projects seeks to fund projects which are innovative and that refresh, upgrade or develop tourism products and experiences to support the Australian tourism industry.

Who can apply?

To be eligible for funding, the applicant must be a legal entity and one of the following:

• A private sector corporation, incorporated association or trust corporation;
• A non-profit corporation or incorporated association;
• A corporate regional tourism or economic development organisation;
• A local government body corporate;
• A corporate national peak or sectoral tourism association able to demonstrate sufficient representation of the industry through diversity in its membership; and
• A consortium of corporate partners (led by any of the above entity types).

A local government body wishing to apply must demonstrate how the project is addition to its annual operating core business activities and that it has strong support from its community. Aligning local government, community and regional planning to support tourism consistent with the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy would be an example.
Commonwealth, state or territory government agencies (i.e. those entities that receive funding for their core business and operating expenses from Commonwealth, State or Territory governments) are not eligible.

Consortia with a strong community focus may apply. The application should be submitted by a single entity (the ‘lead applicant’) which would execute a funding agreement with the Commonwealth if their proposal is successful. The lead applicant will be responsible for managing the legal relationship between the consortium partners. A consortia can include Commonwealth, state or territory government agencies as a consortia member, however, Commonwealth, state or territory government agencies cannot be the lead applicant of the consortium.

National, peak or sectoral tourism associations applying for funding will need to demonstrate they are established organisations providing services to an identifiable sector or sectors of the Australian tourism industry and have an appropriate level of industry representation through their membership. They will also need to demonstrate that the proposed project would not routinely be carried out as part of their core business activities.

What type of projects are eligible for funding?

TQUAL Grants — Tourism Quality Projects is seeking to fund projects which are innovative and which refresh, upgrade or develop tourism products and experiences to support the Australian tourism industry to meet its potential and complement tourism marketing efforts.

The program will support the following types of tourism projects:

• Implementation projects such as innovative tourism product, service or experience refreshment or upgrade;
• Initiation projects such as feasibility studies; and
• Projects which support the industry’s capacity to be innovative and productive, or that offer leadership to the industry (driven by national peak or sectoral tourism associations).

Applicants should note that it is anticipated successful applicants will be able to commence project activities in July 2012 and projects must be completed no later than March 2014.

What activities are not eligible for funding?

There are a number of ineligible items and activities for which TQUAL Grants funding or the matching cash cannot be used.

Funding cannot be used to:

• Construct, maintain or upgrade transport infrastructure such as roads, airports, railways, ferry terminals;
• Upgrade or develop meeting and/or local community facilities—including picnic or playground areas, local parks, barbeques, meeting facilities and regional and town entry features;
• Buy capital equipment such as vehicles, boats, computers, machinery or other equipment;
• Buy or lease real estate of any type;
• Engage or pay permanent employees;
• Pay for work undertaken on the project before the funding agreement with the Commonwealth is executed;
• Provide allowances for project “contingencies” in the budget;
• Raise capital funds, provide fund investment, or fund/undertake venture capital activities;
• Duplicate or overlap any other Commonwealth, State or Territory program;
• Attend conferences or seminars or fund overseas travel;
• Undertake marketing, advertising or product promotion;
• Start up a business or undertake activities specifically associated with starting up a business—such as business registrations or incorporation costs;
• Upgrade or develop centres or facilities that are solely concerned with providing visitor information services;
• Salaries and consultancies that cannot be clearly shown as pivotal to the project; and
• Cover administrative or running costs that are normally the applicant's responsibility— for example, insurance, rent, standard office equipment, telephone costs and consumables.

No more than 7% of the total project cost (TQUAL Grants and matching funds) can be spent on project

How are applications assessed?

TQUAL Grants is a highly competitive merit based grants program. It is important to note that meeting the eligibility and assessment criteria does not guarantee that an offer of funding will be made.

If eligible, each application will be assessed on how well it addresses each of the following assessment criteria:

• Innovative approach that provides a quality tourism product or experience in the region, or to support the industry’s capacity to be innovative and productive or adopt world’s best practice;
• Contribution to strategic priorities as outlined in the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy, and state/territory or regional economic development/tourism plans (in particular for the project’s demonstrated alignment with tourism quality principles and demonstrated commitment to environmental sustainability);
• Demonstrated need for the project and evidence of the long term financial viability of the project (in particular after the grant period);
• Clear plan for sharing project outcomes and learnings with the tourism industry and broader regional and community stakeholders;
• Capacity to deliver the project and sound project methodology including budget, timeline and community involvement; and
• Value for money including a need for funding (i.e. the project will not proceed without the grant) and any additional investment committed to the project.

The Department undertakes due diligence inquiries where an applicant is likely to be recommended for funding. Background checks may be relevant to assessing an application. This can include checks for bankruptcy or criminal records affecting persons named in applications.administration costs.

Who selects the suitable applicants?

The Department assesses all eligible applications against the assessment criteria set out in these guidelines and makes recommendations to the program delegate. The Department also aims to achieve a level of diversity of quality projects funded, subject to the overall competitiveness of the projects.

Any Department officers involved will complete conflict-of-interest declarations and cannot access information or assess projects where a conflict-of-interest, detrimental to an applicant’s interests, or possibly detrimental to those interests, exists.

The Department can seek technical advice from Commonwealth agencies and officers from state and territory organisations as appropriate. These persons also complete conflict-of-interest declarations and cannot access information or assess projects where a conflict-of interest, detrimental to an applicant’s interests or possibly detrimental to those interests, exists.

Who will make the decisions?

The Minister for Tourism has delegated decision making power to a senior officer in the Department, the program delegate. The Department will make recommendations on funding.

The program delegate will make final decisions on funding taking into account the Department’s recommendations.

How will you know if you are successful?

The Minister will announce the successful applicants. All applicants will be advised in writing whether their application is successful or unsuccessful. If your application is unsuccessful, you will receive a letter providing feedback on your application and a contact number for a Departmental officer who can provide further information if desired.

Please note that no legal binding relationship exists until a funding agreement has been agreed and signed by both the Commonwealth and the successful applicant.

Self Pre-Application checklist To determine eligibility for TQUAL Grants -

Applicants who answer ‘No’ to any of the following questions below may not be eligible to apply for TQUAL Grants funding.

1. Does the applicant meet one of the following categories?
• Private sector corporation, incorporated association or trust corporation
• Non-profit corporation or incorporated association
• Corporate regional tourism or economic development organisation
• Local government body corporate
• Corporate national peak or sectoral tourism association able to demonstrate sufficient representation of the industry through the level of its membership
• Consortium of corporate partners (led by any of the above entity types)

2. Is the applicant registered for goods and services tax (GST)?
3. Is the proposed project located in Australia?
4. Is the TQUAL Grants funding amount being requested equal to or greater than $15,000 (plus GST) and equal to or less than $100,000 (plus GST)?
5. Can the applicant provide evidence that it has at least matching cash, dollar for dollar, to contribute to the project? Yes: No:
6. If the applicant is a local government body corporate, can it demonstrate that the project is additional to activity that it would routinely undertake?
7. If the applicant is a corporate national peak or sectoral industry association, can it demonstrate that the project is additional to activity that it would routinely undertake?
8. If the applicant is successful, will the TQUAL Grants funding be used for eligible activities?
9. If successful, will the applicant be willing and able to enter into a funding agreement with the Commonwealth?
10. If the application is successful, can the project be completed by 31 March 2014?