3 December 2019

Will Hodgman, Premier, Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events

Access 2020 progress report

Tourism is a key driver of the Tasmanian economy, helping to support thousands of local jobs in every corner of our State.

Having hit a record annual visitor spend of $2.5 billion, my Government remains focused on initiatives that encourage visitors to stay longer, spend more and travel further around the State.

Access 2020 is Tasmania’s comprehensive strategy designed to build on the record number of visitors coming to our State and to help our local businesses get their products to the world.

Today’s Access 2020 Progress Report highlights:

• Air services to Tasmania continue to grow, with 260,166 new seats and 152,450 additional passengers in 2018-19 – significantly exceeding the Access 2020 target of 140,000 new seats per year; and
• A six per cent increase in air capacity to our major airports, compared to 0.01 per cent nationally.

The Tasmanian Government’s Blueprint for Sustainable Cruise Shipping in Tasmania released as part of the Access 2020 Strategy also includes initiatives to increase cruise passenger spend to $50 million by 2022, through:

• Targeting longer stays for cruise vessels to increase tourism yield;
• Raising the number of passengers participating in tours from 40 per cent to 50 per cent;
• Growing the number of cruise vessel visits to regional ports, including Burnie and Port Arthur;
• Encouraging greater visitation to places like Beauty Point and the East Coast by focusing on smaller and expedition style cruise vessels.

We have identified the importance and benefits to our industry and economy, to encourage cruise ships to conduct full or partial turnarounds in Tasmania. Passengers spend extra days in our State at either end of their cruise and the provisioning opportunities are significant. The Noordam represents the first example of this with passengers for the first time this season being able to embark or disembark in Hobart. This allows visitors to spend more time exploring our state and for Tasmanians, it means being able to commence their cruise without flying to a mainland port.

The Access 2020 progress report clearly demonstrates we are delivering our plan to support greater yield and dispersal in our booming visitor economy.

The Access 2020 Report can be found at https://tourismtasmania.com.au/about/publications/access-2020

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