Strengthening future of our tourism industry

Jeremy Rockliff,Premier

Minister for Tourism

A strong tourism industry is one of the key pillars of our economy, and the 2022-23 State Budget is investing to strengthen the industry’s future, so that all Tasmanians can benefit.

The Budget invests an additional $10 million into Tourism Tasmania across the next four years, which will accelerate the industry’s recovery from COVID-19, allow us to expand our marketing into key domestic markets, and support direct airline capacity into both Hobart and Launceston.

Tasmania’s tourism industry is one of our greatest success stories and this investment will allow it to continue to grow and bounce back from a challenging few years.

Our tourism industry is vitally important to our economy, supporting around 33,600 employees across the State and generating more than $2 billion to the state’s coffers each year.

The flow on effects are also significant, as we know that for every dollar spent in the tourism industry in Tasmania, an additional 84 cents is spent elsewhere in the Tasmanian economy – the equal highest in the country, alongside Queensland.

Importantly, growing the industry further will harness our competitive advantages and create more opportunities for Tasmanians – allowing us to maintain a strong economy, so that we can invest further in the areas where it matters most.

Since our borders re-opened, we have already seen strong signs that the industry is bouncing back, with indicative results from the most recent Tasmanian Visitor Survey showing that total visitor spend in Tasmania for the March quarter 2022 was $988 million – the highest spend for any March quarter on record, even with significantly fewer international visitors.

Domestic visitor spend in Tasmania in the year to March 2022 was also $2.1 billion, the highest annual domestic spend on record, and up 170 per cent from the $799 million total spend in the year to March 2021.

There is no doubt that Tasmania has what the world wants, and this additional investment will support the thousands of jobs in the industry and further add to our economy, allowing us to invest more into key areas such as health and mental health, education and housing than ever before.