Tasmania’s Visitor Economy is one of our greatest success stories, and our strong plan has secured the industry’s future and allowed it to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest Tasmanian Visitor Survey data shows that visitor spend for the March quarter increased by 29 per cent when compared to the same period in 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Additionally, airline capacity on all routes now exceeds what Tasmania enjoyed in 2019, the only exception being Melbourne, due to direct flights now being available from so many other capital cities.
Travellers are also taking up the opportunity to travel directly between Tassie and New Zealand during the upcoming school holiday periods – a time of year that is traditionally quieter for Tasmania’s tourism industry.
Bookings to fly directly between the two islands are particularly strong between July 10 and 26, and October 2 and 18, meaning travellers are taking the opportunity to experience everything our state has to offer outside of busy summer period.
And, Air New Zealand is reporting the Hobart service has the best forward booking load factor of any of its trans-Tasman markets.
It’s fantastic to see how keen New Zealanders are to come and explore what Tasmania has to offer, and this has been a great boost for our tourism industry.
We saw a real surge just before Dark Mofo and we know Kiwis love to travel for great events so Tasmania is well placed to deliver those experiences
Tasmania welcomes around 20,000 visitors every year from New Zealand, and we expect this to increase thanks to these new direct flights, which, on top of benefiting the tourism industry, is supporting Tasmanians to more easily reconnect with family and friends across the Tasman.