Tourism boost after marketing cuts

TODAY’S State Budget will include $11 million for tourism marketing, Premier Will Hodgman has announced.

Mr Hodgman made the announcement in a video message played to State Tourism Conference delegates last night.

“This budget there’s $11 million of new money for marketing to stimulate increased domestic and international visitation,” he said.

The funding announcement comes after the Federal Budget revealed a $14 million cut to the national tourism body.

Tourism Tasmania and the State Government said at the time that Tourism Australia’s cut was not expected to affect Tasmania’s marketing budget.

But Federal Labor tourism spokesman Anthony Albanese last week said it would affect Tourism Australia’s ability to promote Tasmania to the world.

In his video message last night, Mr Hodgman also repeated the announcement of $3.2 million to transform Drysdale into a tourism and hospitality centre of excellence.

Conference:

We want the data from our Tourist Tracking Project to be available to the tourism industry to support its growth and the management of its infrastructure. DR ANNE HARDY

WORLD-FIRST technology is helping Tasmanian tourism operators define the customer experience.

The Tourism Tracer Dashboard, a purpose-built online tool, was launched yesterday on the back of data collected through the University of Tasmania’s landmark Tourist Tracking study, which began in early 2016.

The dashboard gives tourism operators a bird’s-eye view of what tourists are attracted to around the state.

It shows that visitors who say their primary reason for visiting Tasmania is history tend to visit the town of Richmond from morning to early afternoon.

At lunchtime, it tends to be those who prioritise food and wine, while visitors who arrive in Richmond later in the day tend to be interested in wilderness and wildlife.

“This information is useful for the tourism industry because it can help them design the length and time of day that different tourism experiences can be offered,” team leader Anne Hardy said.

“Until now, we have had anecdotal evidence on how tourists move through the state, but this study is a world first because it demonstrates where different types of tourists travel and the factors that may influence their travel.

“Tourist operators can use the dashboard to gain insights into the types of tourists who visit their attraction, and where they travel before and after their visit.”

In 2016, more than 450 groups of visitors to Tasmania were recruited upon arrival in the state and given smartphones with an app that recorded their demographic details and tracked their movements during their stay.

Stage two is under way, with more than 200 tourists recruited since February 1. Throughout this year 1000 new participants will be recruited.

“It is a living dashboard, we will continue to add data to this dashboard as we continue to collect it in 2017 and beyond,” Dr Hardy said.

“We want the data from our Tourist Tracking Project to be available to the tourism industry to support its growth and the management of its infrastructure.”

Stage two of the project is being funded by the Department of State Growth, the University of Tasmania, the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania and Federal Group.

The dashboard is at www.tourismtracer.com

A demonstration video is at: https://youtu.be/cHk3gVNlLL0