Tourism cheering for a new stadium

A GROUP of tourism operators say a new stadium at Macquarie Point would be a tourism drawcard for the state, creating a flow on effect stretching to remote corners of Tasmania.

Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chair and founder of Coal Valley Farm, Daniel Leesong, said the stadium would help attract visitors outside of the peak season.

“What we know is we have big infrastructure like this and big new facilities that are built, it attracts a whole range of events that wouldn’t have come here otherwise,” Mr Leesong said.

“Build a brand new facility that’s world class, it attracts a whole new level of investment, a whole new level of patronage.”

Mr Leesong said there were times of year where many ventures experienced a lull in visitor numbers.

“When you look at a calendar of events through the year, Tasmania still has times of the year that are not busy, this (the stadium) will help make those lumpy times less lumpy,” Mr Leesong said.

It’s something Killara Distillery owner Kristy LarkBooth has also felt.

“Winter has been traditionally a quieter period but now we’ve got a calendar of events happening throughout that period, it is seeing more tourism and travellers come down,” Ms Lark-Booth said.

“The shoulder seasons are a little bit quieter, we’re seeing a lot more travellers are coming down, people are looking at Tasmania as a destination. “We need places for them to go and things for them to do.”

Tahune Airwalk owner Ken Stronach said his business relied heavily on interstate tourists.

“Our interstate business is more than 80 per cent of the traffic at the moment,” Mr Stronach said.

“We will definitely benefit from the interstate market, we know that people do come for more than just the events, we know they come for 5 to 7 days at a time.

“It’s not just building a stadium, it’s all of the add on benefits around and all the significant capital infrastructure would attract.”

The stadium proposal has attracted criticism from Tasmanian Labor and other groups, which argue the millions in federal funding needed for the stadium would be better spent on areas like health and housing.

The Mercury’s recent Big Issues survey found 69.46 per cent of respondents were opposed to the stadium.

Opinion polling commissioned by Labor in October returned similar results, with 67.3 per cent of respondents against the plan.

More recently, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated he was open to the project, but there was a laundry list of projects he hoped to also see built at the site.

“There’s always going to be a need for health and education. I don’t think that will ever stop, that doesn’t mean we can’t do other things as well,” Ms Lark-Booth said.