Cruisers can’t get enough of Hobart

KERRIE and Michael Hurley, from the Gold Coast, are two of the more than 150,000 visitors who come to Tasmania each year aboard a cruise ship.

The couple yesterday stepped off a cruise on to Hobart’s wharf for their fourth or fifth time, they said, their second time aboard Noordam.

The Noordam cruise ship arrived as Premier Will Hodgman

launched Access 2020, a Government strategy designed to build on the number of visitors coming to Tasmania.

Mr Hodgman said the cruise sector injected about $48 million into the Tasmanian economy last year.

“We have a great partnership with our cruise operators to ensure that passengers are spending as much time off the ship and in our local economy,” he said.

Mr and Mrs Hurley have been on more than 20 cruises, and said they almost always organise their tours and excursions through local operators.

“We usually do our own thing. Last time we hired a car and drove to Port Arthur,” Mrs Hurley said.

The cruise ship season in Tasmania will this year increase by 24 visits, taking the number of cruise ships visiting the state to about 130.

Access 2020 found there has been a 6 per cent increase in air capacity to the state’s major airports, compared to 0.01 per cent nationally.

Mr Hodgman also announced yesterday that from February Tasmanians will finally be able to step aboard a cruise ship from their own shores.

“There’ll be Tasmanians who will now be able to get on-board and leave too, for the first time ever,” he said.