TWEED tourism will receive a badly-needed boost after the NSW Government and tourism industry partners have vowed to invest almost $1 million to help North Coast tourism operators attract visitors after the recent floods.

Destination Tweed general manager Phil Villiers said although Tweed was not badly affected by flooding it still had a negative impact on the tourism industry.

“We suffered just like everybody else with cancellations and no-shows,” Mr Villiers said.

“The holiday park section lost some business but the indoor venues did very well.

“We are just letting people know we are still open for business.”

Tourism NSW is working in partnership with the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast Regional Tourism Organisations to offer immediate support to operators and to develop a package of promotions to help the region's tourism recovery.

The floods have had a devastating impact on the traditional tourism peak season in some parts of the NSW Northern Rivers region, with tourism operators not only having to deal with the immediate impact of flooding but also cancellations. The NSW Government is investing $540,000 in a range of promotions planned to begin in February, with industry expected to contribute a further $400,000.

The funding will support a number of campaigns to attract Sydneysiders and visitors from regional NSW and other key interstate and international markets.

Tourism is an important industry in the Northern Rivers, with more than 5.36 million visitors in the year ending September 2010, who stayed 8.5 million nights and injected $1.38 billion into the region.