Tassie to lead tourism growth

TASMANIA has been predicted to be the country’s strongest performer in areas of tourism growth, a new report shows.

Tourism Research Australia has detailed the likely growth in total visitor nights in the short-term and long-term, showing that tourists who come to Tasmania are likely to stay longer.

In 2020-21 visitor nights in Tasmania will likely grow by 5.8 per cent, leading the country.

Ken Nguyen and Lisa Phan, from Los Angeles, were about to board the ferry to Mona yesterday and said they could understand why the state would attract visitors.

“This is exactly the kind of vacation that we were looking for,” Ms Phan said.

She said the couple’s friend had recommended Tasmania as a unique attraction.

The report predicted Tasmania would continue seeing a higher rate of growth than the rest of the country, with a 5.6 per cent increase in the number of international tourist visitor nights in 2028-29 ahead of Victoria at 5.4 per cent.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief Luke Martin said the growth should give confidence but be taken with a grain of salt.

“This should give confidence to both government and the private sector to continue to plan ahead and invest in critical priorities … but we can’t just rest on our laurels,” Mr Martin said.

“The reality is visitor growth to Tasmania has slowed and is actually very modest at the moment at about 2 per cent.

“So while these forecasts are good, we do need to continue to be bullish about attracting investment in new accommodation and attractions across the state.”