As part of our Plan to Build Your Future, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will set a target for 70 per cent of all visitors to stay overnight in regional areas during their trip to Tasmania, by 2022.
In 2014 we set an ambitious target of 1.5 million visitors by 2020 and the most recent Tasmanian Visitor Survey shows we on track to achieve that with 1.26 million visitors for the year to March 2017 - a seven per cent increase on the previous 12 months, and a new all-time visitor high.
The priority for a re-elected majority Hodgman Liberal Government is to further grow and broaden that tourism market and encourage visitors to experience the unique attractions and produce in our regional areas.
While tourism is a very important industry to our State, we want to ensure that as the industry grows, it doesn’t destroy what is special about our State.
So, rather than focussing just on continual growth in visitor numbers, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will focus on increasing visitor expenditure to grow the sector, with a target of increasing the average visitor spend by 50 per cent by 2022.
We will provide a compelling case for visitors to stay longer, to spend more and to spread the benefits of the tourism boom across the whole State.
We know that visitor growth into Hobart and Launceston is extremely strong and that currently about 53 per cent of visitors travelled and stayed overnight in a regional area (outside Hobart and Launceston).
The East Coast has been particularly strong with a 12 per growth, the North 11 per cent and Cradle Coast 5 percent and the unique experiences in regional areas will be a focus for future promotion and marketing.
There is no greater supporter of tourism than the Hodgman Liberal Government and the 2017-18 State Budget provided the tourism industry with a further $37 million investment because we know it supports local businesses and jobs right around the State.
More Media Releases from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier