Cradle Mountain in Tasmania is a popular visitor attraction. Photo credit: Chensiyuan via Wikimedia Commons
Tasmania’s tourism sector is bouncing back strongly from the impact of the pandemic, according to the state’s Premier, Peter Gutwein.
The latest Tasmanian Visitor Survey data shows that visitor spend for the March quarter increased by 29 percent when compared to the same period in 2019, the year before the pandemic struck.
Additionally, airline capacity on all routes except Melbourne now exceeds what Tasmania enjoyed in 2019.
“Travellers are also taking up the opportunity to travel directly between Tassie and New Zealand during the upcoming school holiday periods – a time of year that is traditionally quieter for Tasmania’s tourism industry,” the Premier said.
Bookings to fly directly between the two islands are particularly strong between July 10 and 26, and October 2 and 18, meaning travellers are taking the opportunity to experience Tasmania outside the busy summer period.
Air New Zealand is also reporting that its Hobart service has the best forward-booking load-factor of any of its trans-Tasman markets.
“It’s fantastic to see how keen New Zealanders are to come and explore what Tasmania has to offer, and this has been a great boost for our tourism industry,” Gutwein stated.
“We saw a real surge just before Dark Mofo and we know Kiwis love to travel for great events so Tasmania is well placed to deliver those experiences.”
Dark Mofo is a popular winter festival held in Hobart that typically attracts a large number of visitors to the state. Many of its events take place at night and it celebrates the darkness of the southern winter solstice with musical acts and other activities.
Gutwein added: “Tasmania welcomes around 20,000 visitors every year from New Zealand, and we expect this to increase thanks to these new direct flights. On top of benefiting the tourism industry, [these flights are] supporting Tasmanians to more easily reconnect with family and friends across the Tasman.”
According to the Tourism Tasmania website, the island state typically has around 1,3-million tourist annually who arrive by scheduled air and sea services. These visitors spend approximately $2.5-billion on accommodation, attractions, tours, transport and other goods and services.