Rallying call to fill the void

KASEY WILKINS

MAJOR tourism bodies are attempting to help mitigate the effect of losing Dark Mofo amid uncertain times within the industry.

But the void left by the festival’s shock cancellation is a huge body blow for the state.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said while the reasoning behind the cancellation was understood within the industry, there was no denying the effect it would have on the already challenging conditions for tourism in the state.

“Until now, Tasmanian tourism’s exposure to the coronavirus travel ban has been relatively isolated to a small group of tourism operators who specialise in the China inbound market,” he said.

“But Dark Mofo is our largest drawcard over the winter months, and has a big positive impact on visitation across Tasmania in June.

“It is going to severely impact our visitor economy over the depth of winter.”

He said the challenge now would be how to work through the problem and “stem the bleeding” over the winter months.

“We’re still seeing really strong numbers on our planes and on the ships coming into the state, but when you have that kind of major stimulus event removed, and obviously a lot of people who would be planning for a busy June to finish their financial year out ... there’s nothing to replace Dark Mofo.”

Mr Martin said they would be having discussions with Tourism Tasmania and the State Government about potential steps they could take to mitigate the impact, but it was difficult to make alternative plans with coronavirus making things so uncertain.

“These are now the most uncertain times tourism in Australia has faced since the pilot strike of the early ’90s,” he said.

Airbnb Australia head of public policy Derek Nolan said they were sad to see the cancellation of one of Australia’s most exciting events.

“It’s always such a unique celebration that brings people from all over Australia and the world to Tasmania, and really highlights how the state is on the cutting edge of culture,” he said.

“We know this announcement compounds an already significant challenge for Tasmanian tourism, and we’re really keen to keep working with the government and local tourism bodies to see how we can best support their efforts.”

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief operating officer Colleen Reardon said the chamber was committed to working with the government to ensure the challenges associated with the virus could be responded to.