Tourism the apple of our isle

Tasmania must sustain the charge, write Carl Harris and Paul Liggins

TOURISM is a cornerstone of Tasmania’s economy and it’s booming.

Following years of stagnation, we have had five years of steady growth, culminating in 1.3 million people visiting Tasmania in the 12 months to June.

Just over a million visitors were from interstate, with the remainder from overseas.

Almost exactly half of Tasmania’s visitors come for a holiday. The rest are on business or visiting friends or relatives, with a small number attending a conference or convention.

From an economic perspective, interstate and overseas visitation are the most critical. All the visitation and spending is pure upside, because it is diverted from spending outside Tasmania. Local visitation is important, especially outside the summer peak and when locals visit Tasmania rather than going interstate or overseas. But some local tourism will simply represent money diverted from other local activities, rather than being additional.

Tourism now represents around 5.1 per cent of the Tasmanian economy, up from about 4 per cent in 2011.

So why has overseas and interstate Tasmanian visitation grown so much?

Certainly government and the local tourism industry have done some things very well. Tourism Tasmania’s strategic marketing plan has been highly successful, and efforts to promote Tasmania as a destination outside of the summer peak have been pivotal.

Some of Tasmania’s tourism resurgence is due to factors outside the Government’s remit. A lower exchange rate has made it relatively more attractive for Melburnians or Sydneysiders to come to Hobart rather than go overseas. Increasing affluence in South-East Asia and elsewhere is also important. With the rise of a middle class, spending by Chinese visitors in Australia has grown fivefold in the past 10 years. Other fastgrowing tourism markets include India and “nontraditional” areas of Europe.

In a small market like Tasmania, single investments by the private sector can have a big influence on overall visitation — the opening of Mona in 2011 and investments by the Federal Group and Rob Pennicott, to name a few, have been important.

But the increase in tourist numbers has meant that visitor facilities, particularly in the South and East, are becoming stretched.

While the private sector is starting to increase hotel capacity in Hobart to cater for this growth, particularly at the top end of the market, much accommodation, including on the East Coast, is ageing. And without the recent surge in short-stay accommodation, enabled by platforms such as Airbnb, capacity constraints at peak times would have been even greater.

Like other state governments, the Tasmanian Government has an essential role to play in promoting Tasmania and providing tourism infrastructure — good roads, appropriate signage, modern airports and ports. Yet unlike some other states where a higher proportion of tourism offerings are provided by the private sector — theme parks, shopping facilities and theatres — much of Tasmania’s attraction ultimately traces back to its natural beauty and unspoiled wilderness. Our other key attraction to tourists — our world-class produce — also relies on the natural environment. In an increasingly crowded and industrialised world, visitors’ views of Tasmania as being clean and green is becoming steadily more valuable.

This means the Tasmanian Government needs to be more active in enabling tourism and providing infrastructure than other state governments. This

includes investing in walking tracks, car parks and RV facilities, viewing points, information centres, and huts and shelters. It also means Tasmania’s natural beauty and environment, and strong brand image, needs to be guarded and preserved.

Potential left field threats to the tourism industry, which could come from pest, disease or a major environmental incident, must be avoided. Entities such as Biosecurity Tasmania, the Environment Protection Authority and other regulators are not sexy and high profile, but must be well funded and working well with the private sector and the community.

Finally, industry and government need to continue to work together to ensure tourism experiences remain fresh and new. The recently announced low-interest loan scheme for upgrades to accommodation businesses is a great start; a similar scheme for non-accommodation tourism businesses would also have merit. A focus on creating visitor experiences outside of Hobart and the East Coast would spread the benefits more evenly across the state, and most importantly, give visitors a reason to return in future.

This all might sound expensive, but the benefits of tourism are clear. Our research has shown that for every dollar spent on tourism promotion, more than $6 is returned to the Tasmanian economy. Let’s make hay while the tourism sun shines.

Much of Tasmania’s attraction ultimately traces back to its natural beauty and unspoiled wilderness.