Tasmania’s visitor economy is set for a major boost with Jetstar announcing it will commence direct flights between Adelaide and Hobart later this year.
The new service will add 56,000 seats to Tasmania per annum and will help attract an estimated 46,000 visitors to Tasmania from South Australia each year.
The three-times a week service will strengthen links to South Australia, which is a market we see as ripe for growth.
Currently, around five per cent of all interstate visitors to Tasmania are from South Australia and my Government is committed to working with Jetstar to help grow this figure.
Tourism Tasmania will shortly launch a marketing campaign targeted at South Australian residents, which is in addition to Tourism Tasmania’s existing and highly successful marketing partnership with Jetstar.
It can take up to six hours for a South Australian to fly to Tasmania on existing services through Melbourne or Sydney. This new service will cut that travel time to just two hours and better connect Tasmania to the mainland.
Importantly, this new link will improve access to Tasmania for international visitors, with overseas visitors now able to connect directly with Tasmania via Adelaide.
Jetstar are continuing to show great confidence in Tasmania and I acknowledge the hard work of the Hobart and Adelaide airports, as well as Tourism Tasmania and the South Australian Tourism Commission for working together to secure this new air link.