Further support for tourism industry welcomed

The Tasmanian Government welcomes today’s announcement from the Australian Government of further support for our tourism industry.

The package will include half-price airfares

for visitors to Launceston, Devonport and Burnie, bringing visitors to Tasmania and providing a boost for local tourism operators that have done it tough through COVID-19.

It will bring more travellers keen to spend in our hotels and cafes, meaning more jobs and investment for the tourism and aviation sectors, and more money into regional businesses and our economy.

While Hobart remains a major drawcard for travellers, for many years we have been working to encourage more travellers to explore all areas of our State, spreading the economic benefit more widely, so this package will build on this important work.

Today’s announcement will complement what we have done to support the industry, with an estimated $27.5 million in additional spend estimated to have been generated by our Make Yourself At Home travel voucher program.

Pleasingly, the most recent National Visitor Survey data for the month of November shows this is having an impact, with the number of overnight intrastate trips up 95 per cent for the same month the previous year.

The number of nights spent intrastate also increased by a significant 90 per cent, and expenditure by overnight intrastate travellers was $99.9 million - up 58 per cent compared to the previous year.

While there is no doubt the industry continues to be impacted by the uncertainty around COVID-19, today is another positive step that will help the industry continue to recover.