‘Going silly’ for holidays
TASMANIA’S hotels, motels and restaurants are “going silly” in the lead up to the school holidays.
And Hobart Airport is mounting a steady recovery and looking to a record summer if the momentum continues.
A spokesman from the airport said passenger numbers were rebuilding with anywhere between 50 and 70 movements a day over the school holiday period. “This is great for all of the businesses associated with the airport and for our tourism industry in general,” he said.
“The staff at the airport have worked really hard to make sure we can provide a great experience for visitors from the moment they step off the plane as well as for locals who are looking forward to an interstate break for the first time in years.
“We are hopeful that we will have a record summer.”
The tourism sector is also looking towards the return of cruise ships to the state in October.
Tasmanian Hospitality Association CEO Steve Old said pubs, hotels and restaurants were “flying” with booming bookings despite the season.
“We had some hospitality association people down from NSW this week and they could not believe how busy everything was. It is going silly,” Mr Old said.
“The issue now is finding the staff to keep serving visitors. But that is a better problem to have than what we were looking at when the pandemic started.”
Caravan parks and hotels are filling up with almost all the cabins at the Ulverstone Big 4 park booked, but some caravan sites are still available.
Freycinet Lodge is also getting solid bookings despite the cold temperatures.
In May, Tasmanian accommodation levels dropped below 85 per cent (72.76) for just the second time in 2022 – but it was still a record for that month.
“While on paper it may appear to be disappointing compared to the record levels from the past three months, we know accommodation levels do drop along with the temperature,” Mr Old said.
“But since 2002 there have only been three occasions when occupancy in May across the state has been above 70 per cent, so to set a new mark for the month, albeit a slight increase from last year, is a fantastic result.
“And what we do know and expect are strong figures for June following the huge success of Dark Mofo, which attracted more than 300,000 people across 45 ticketed performances, with 65 per cent of the 72,000 tickets sold going to interstate visitors.”