A $40 million plan to enhance Tasmania’s reputation as a world-leading tourism destination has been unveiled by the Liberals.
With promises of increased international and domestic flights, the introduction of new attractions and a loan scheme for tourism operators, the party’s proposal has gained positive feedback from the industry.
“The more people who travel to Tasmania throughout the year means the more people staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants, visiting our bars and going out to see our attractions,” Tasmanian Hospitality Association CEO Steve Old said
“Our hospitality offerings are now world renowned and it is vital we continue to drive strong visitation. It is what keeps the industry growing and keeping people in jobs.”
Liberal Leader Jeremy Rockliff highlighted a $4 million boost for destination marketing and a $3.8 million allocation for a business events attraction fund as key components of the plan.
“We’ve seen what MONA has done for the Tasmanian visitor economy and our Plan to deliver the Cradle Mountain masterplan as well as a new Chocolate Experience at Cadbury will continue to drive visitation to our state,” he said.
“In addition, we will support regional tourism businesses to develop job-creating local tourism attractions through our $50 million Regional Tourism Loan Scheme.”
The plan comes with a target of attracting 1.6 million interstate visitors and 400,000 international visitors to the state by 2030, injecting $1.64 billion into the economy annually.
