Tourism Tasmania – Positive tourism outlook for 2015

The southern tourism industry is tonight gathered at Blundstone Arena to celebrate what has been a phenomenal year for the industry.

Ten of millions of eyes were focused on Tasmania during the recent visit by the Chinese President, this followed global exposure from the Restaurant Australia grand finale at MONA, which along with Tasmania’s top four ranking by Lonely Planet this year means internationally our state is the must-visit destination everyone is talking about.

Our task for 2015 and beyond is to build on this momentum.

Over summer there are a wide range of world class events which will attract even more visitors to our shores including the Taste of Tasmania, 70th Rolex Sydney-Hobart, Falls Festival, Moorilla Hobart International, MONA FOMA and the Wooden Boat Festival.

While in March, world-class cricket action arrives at Blundstone Arena with three ICC Cricket World Cup games being held at the venue. Having a huge broadcast reach, this event will again have the eyes of the world focussed on Tasmania.

Destination Southern Tasmania and the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania have a key role to play in the further development and growth of tourism in Tasmania, as does the government.

We recognise tourism is a competitive strength for Tasmania. That is why the Liberal Government is investing an additional $16 million over four years into tourism marketing, supporting new experiences like the Three Capes Track, and opening up our wilderness areas to sensible tourism development.

These important initiatives will assist us to achieve our target of attracting 1.5 million visitors to Tasmania each year by 2020, which the industry says represents 8000 jobs.