A Liberal/Nationals Government will provide $15,000 in funding for the Winter Magic Festival and Katoomba’s Wines of the West Festival Liberal Candidate for Blue Mountains , Michael Paag, and Shadow Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Katrina Hodgkinson said today.

“The Winter Magic Festival is an extremely successful event which draws tens of thousands of visitors to Katoomba each year,” Mr Paag said.

 “Katoomba’s Wines of the West Festival is an important event because it draws visitors to the Blue Mountains during January and highlights local produce,” Mr Paag said.

 Shadow Minister for Major Events, Katrina Hodgkinson, said the Liberal/Nationals, if elected would aggressively promote a calendar of tourism events to attract more visitors to regional NSW.

 “The Winter Magic Festival will receive $10,000 and Katoomba’s Wines of the West Festival $5,000 from a NSW Liberal/Nationals Government,” Mr Paag said.

 “Tourism is important to the Blue Mountains region, providing more than 2,700 local jobs,” Mr Paag said.

 “But under Labor tourism’s share of total employment in the Blue Mountains has fallen to 5.2%, which is below the state average,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

 “Last year international visitor nights to this region dropped by 5,600 costing the local economy almost $900,000 in lost income,” said Mr Paag.

 “The Liberal/Nationals recognise the importance of promoting major events to increase the number of visitors to the Blue Mountains .  Unlike Labor, we have a policy that will boost tourism in the Blue Mountains ,” Mr Paag concluded.