Lodge lives again
$20m Port Arthur project Resort to create 32 jobs
A lONG-DELAYED luxury tourism development near Port Arthur has been reanimated as Tasmania surfs the wave of a tourism boom.
Remarkable Lodge — which was first proposed more than a decade ago — will be built on a spectacular northfacing hillside near the Port Arthur Historic Site.
The $20 million lodge is expected to create not just a world-class tourism experience for domestic and interna- tional guests, but also 32 jobs in the area.
Developers James and Hayley Baillie own lodges on Lord Howe, Kangaroo Island and at Uluru.
Mr Ballie said the Port Arthur site would attract visitors from around the globe.
“If people ask us at Baillie Lodges what makes our properties successful, first and foremost it’s having that amazing site with the ‘ wow factor’,” he said.
“I think everyone would agree that you know the view behind us today which you’ll see walking into the lodge is just incredible. “
The Remarkable Lodge development was first proposed in 2006 on land owned by Mr Baillie’s father-in-law, philanthropist and political activist Dick Smith. The millionaire fought three years of opposition to his original idea to incorporate eco-tourism on the Tasman Peninsula.
He finally won a planning permit in 2008 from the Tasman Council but Baillie Lodges shelved the project after struggling to secure investment support from the then Labor government.
“It has been a long journey for us. Stuart Tanner one of the main architects involved in the development first emailed Hayley and I a photograph of this site back in 2004.
“I opened this shot and I went ‘ wow look at that site’. That’s really amazing and that was on a crazy wild day as well.
“So it is a place for all seasons which is one of the hallmarks of all our properties.”
Premier Will Hodgman said the State Government would contribute $1 million for infrastructure works supporting the development.
“It will add another jewel in the crown that is Tasmania’s tourism industry and we’re delighted that it just finally got off the ground,” he said.
“We’re a Government that strongly supports sensible and sustainable development in and around our wilderness areas that showcase iconic destinations.”
The announcement came as the latest Tasmanian Visitor survey showed a record 1.28 million people visited the state in the year to September, up 11 per cent.
“This is now a $2 billion dollar industry-plus for Tasmania,” Mr Hodgman said.
“There is increased demand for all levels of accommodation and experiences in this state and we’re always on the look out for investors who understand that need.”
ABS figures released yesterday also showed Tasmania had the strongest net interstate migration of any state in 2016-17.