Business & Tourism East Gippsland (BTEG) has entered into an informal arrangement with the Port Melbourne Business Association to help reinvigorate business in East Gippsland following the bushfires.

The Port Melbourne Business Association is very keen to assist in any way possible and although details have not yet been worked out, executive officer for BTEG, Janet Burton, will be liaising with the president of the Port Melbourne Business Association, Paul Littman, about a variety of initiatives what may include selling produce in Port Melbourne stores, pairing lifesaving clubs, football clubs, bowls clubs, etc, but most importantly, encouraging their members and the wider Port Melbourne community to come to East Gippsland for a short or longer break and spend money with accommodation providers, cafés, restaurants and other stores.

Chairman of BTEG, Ian Harrison, said Lakes Entrance had been chosen as the town for Port Melbourne to focus on as there are so many synergies between the two towns.

“Business flowing into Lakes Entrance or anywhere else in our region will have a flow-on effect to other tourist towns as well,” Ian said

“Port Melbourne requested a specific town to focus their attention on as opposed to the entire region.”

“Although many of our towns have not been directly impacted by bushfires, the entire region has felt the indirect effects of the bushfires in terms of loss of visitors at peak holiday period and they will continue to feel this for a long time to come,” Ms Burton said.

“It is important not to encourage visitors back too quickly but it is critical to get them back as soon as possible in order to inject some muchneeded cash into our local economy.

“The announcement of government stimulus funds is fabulous and anything else we can do to stimulate our local economy is so important to ensure the survival of small business in the region.”