The Liberal Government is committed to attracting 1.5 million visitors to Tasmania every year by 2020, which the industry says will create 8,000 new jobs.
China is our number one international tourist market and will help us to reach this target.
A record 20,400 Chinese tourists visited our island in the 12 months to June, a 61 per cent increase according to the latest International Visitor Survey by Tourism Research Australia.
The Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania is hosting workshops to ensure the industry is "China ready", which provides a great opportunity to better position ourselves to build on this trend.
The overwhelming participation of hundreds of tourism workers over coming weeks is a clear indication of the industry's enthusiasm for this undertaking.
The workshops, part funded by our Government through the Department of State Growth, will be held in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, Cradle Mountain and Bicheno over the next two weeks.
More than 150 participants will take part in Hobart today, while the final workshop in Bicheno has already attracted 70 enrolments; from tour guides through to service station workers.
I commend the industry's commitment to making our state China ready.
The Asian market is key to Tasmania's economic prosperity and the potential for growth in our competitive strengths, especially tourism.