With 19,000 walkers expected by mid-November and strong forward bookings through summer, the Three Capes Track has been confirmed as the star of Tasmania’s nature-based tourism experiences.
Bookings are completely sold out for all of November through to late January, and a total of 6628 forward bookings have been received through to the end of August 2018.
Under the Hodgman Government, visitation to our stunning natural areas is booming and these fantastic numbers confirm the Three Capes Track as one of the world’s top tourism destinations and the momentum shows no sign of slowing down.
It’s great news for the State’s economy and tourism industry and especially for local businesses on the Tasman Peninsula, with people who walk the track also staying in local accommodation, while shopping and eating locally.
Work is also on schedule to complete Stage Three that will upgrade the track to the third cape, Cape Raoul and complete the Three Capes experience.
The Cape Raoul track work is around 75 per cent complete, with the works expected to be finished early in the new year.
Track work is also complete on the Shipstern Bluff Track, with only minor modifications to come and upgrades to Stormlea Road are expected to be completed by Christmas.
The completion of Stage Three will complement the existing walking experience operating on the eastern side of the peninsula and provide walkers with the opportunity to experience all three capes, which is sure to attract even more tourists to the State to experience what will be one of the world’s great bushwalks.
The ongoing success of the Three Capes Track perfectly complements other great visitor numbers at our parks and reserves across the State.
Freycinet National Park is the State’s most visited national park, with visitation for 2016-17 increasing 7 per cent on the previous year to a record 292,000.
Cradle Mountain also experienced a 9 per cent increase, welcoming 252,000 visitors for the 2016-17 financial year.
The increase in tourism numbers is a great demonstration of how the Government’s ongoing commitment to our nature-based tourism industry is attracting visitors from all over the world, and will help achieve our goal of having 70 per cent of visitors stay overnight in our regional areas and increasing visitor spend by 50 per cent by 2022.