Holidaying at home locals fill hotels, parks

HOTELS, Airbnb, holiday houses and caravan park bookings have surged over the school holidays despite Tasmania’s borders staying firmly shut as locals heed the call to holiday at home.

While the lack of interstate and international tourists is hurting the tourism industry, it appears Tasmanians are doing what they can to inject money into the sector.

“The feedback I have received from the regions and our cities is that Tasmanians have travelled extensively in recent weeks. I thank them for that,” Premier Peter Gutwein said.

“Many Tasmanian would like to travel north to warmer climes right now but I encourage them to spend that money here and rediscover local places they may not have visited for a long while.”

Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge was fully booked over the school holidays and Freycinet Holiday Houses reported 400 guests on a single day across its 84 house offerings.

“We have been overwhelmed by the support and been extremely busy. Tasmanians are supporting us and it is so heartening,” a spokeswoman from the site said as guests started heading home. after the two-week break.

Launceston couple Amy Bradley and Ben Fox, who both work in the health sector, were among many locals to spend a weekend at Cradle Mountain.

“There were lots of people around, obviously local Tasmanians, which was good. We went hiking and we saw the snow this morning,” Ms Bradley said.

Strahan Village also had solid bookings both for accommodation and seats on the Spirit of the Wild vessel that takes passengers up the Gordon River. Caravan parks have also reported good numbers — especially as winter is traditionally quiet even when interstate and international tourists are coming in.

“The weather was kind and we were about half-full, which is really good for this time of year. People seemed thrilled to be able to get out and about again,” a spokeswoman from the Big 4 Holiday Park in Ulverstone said.

Airbnb’s head of public policy for Australia Derek Nolan said same-state domestic bookings in Tasmania for the month of June were up by 106 per cent when compared with the same period in 2019.

“We’ve seen Tasmanians really embrace domestic travel within their own state — and these are very encouraging early signs. It’s heartening to see people hit the road and support local businesses in areas that have been doing it tough,” Mr Nolan said.

“Towns across every corner of the state have been welcoming plenty of their fellow Tasmanians. We’re particularly seeing people searching for unique and affordable getaways that give them a really authentic local experience.”

In March, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Tasmania, it was reported 200 Airbnb properties had been returned to the private rental market as booking dried up along with the introduction of travel and social distancing restrictions.