Tasmania's visitor boom continues. Wednesday, 23rd September 2009 Source : Tasmania Tourism

Tasmania continues to lead the nation as a domestic travel destination, with the State recording its fourth consecutive period of visitor growth.

The Acting Minister for Tourism and the Arts, David Llewellyn, said today that the Tasmanian Visitor Survey (TVS) results for the year to June 2009 showed overall visitation to the State had increased by 7 percent compared to the same period last year, with 907,200 visitors arriving on scheduled air and sea services.

“Tasmania is continuing to buck the national trend of a declining domestic travel environment, boasting considerable gains from our key markets with visitors from New South Wales soaring up 30 percent on the previous year and visitors from Victoria rising 7 percent,” Mr Llewellyn said.

“Visitors to Tasmania are also staying longer and spending more, with the total number of visitor nights up 10 percent to 7.86 million nights, the average length of stay up to 8.7 nights, and total spending up 4 percent to $1.45 billion.”

In contrast, the June 2009 results of the National Visitor Survey (NVS) reveal that across Australia, there has been a decline in interstate overnight visitors, visitor nights and visitor spend by 6 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent respectively.

“Tasmania also continues to grow its appeal as a holiday and leisure destination, with holiday visitors accounting for 48 percent (436,000) of all visitors to the State, an increase of 10 percent on the previous year,” Mr Llewellyn said.

“Tasmania’s sustained success as a holiday destination is no coincidence. The State Government has consistently delivered effective marketing and development initiatives for our tourism industry that showcase Tasmania as a must-visit destination and ensure we have the products and experiences to deliver on that promise.

“Tasmania’s current tourism marketing campaign showcasing our iconic, world-class experiences, heralds the beginning of a new three-year promotional strategy and sets the foundations for our tourism industry’s future growth.”

Mr Llewellyn said that Tourism Tasmania’s successful access strategy has also fostered strong and beneficial alliances with key partners, delivering reliable and competitive air and sea access to Tasmania for visitors.

“Despite the impact of the Global Financial Crisis, the June 2009 quarter showed signs of a rebounding business travel sector for Tasmania.

“Travel to Tasmania for business purposes was up 19 percent on the same quarter last year, with the conference and convention sector reporting growth of 17 percent for the quarter ending June 2009.

“In fact, convention visitors to the State increased 33 percent for the year ending June 2009.

“These results are great news for Tasmania and our tourism industry, which continues to show its resilience in a volatile global economy, and its ability to respond to the demands of a dynamic tourism market.”

The TVS is a destination survey providing a detailed picture of visitors to Tasmania and is conducted through interviews and a self-completion questionnaire of targeted passengers as they depart Tasmanian ports. It has a sample size of around 9,000 interstate visitors per year and is seen as the most robust and reliable data source for interstate visitation to Tasmania.

Detailed information on the Tasmanian Visitor Survey for the quarter-ending and year-ending June 2009 can be found at www.tourismtasmania.com.au