Tourism Tasmania
Sarah Kingston Clark
Global travel is being reshaped. Geopolitical tension, cost of living pressures, and rapid advances in AI are all landing at the same time, changing how people travel. Despite this, people are travelling more than ever before, they’re just travelling differently. UN Tourism recorded international arrivals up 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 despite ongoing global conflict, and in Australia, Roy Morgan has domestic travel intention at 57 per cent, up from 52 per cent last year. What’s changed isn’t whether people travel, it’s how. Uncertainty redirects demand toward closer, safer destinations rather than suppressing it, and that plays directly to our strengths. Tasmania welcomed a record 1.42 million visitors for the year ending May 2026, spending $3.8 billion in our local economy. That result was driven by interstate visitors hitting 1.2 million, alongside a 10.1 per cent increase in international visitors to 274,800. The number one reason people travel in 2026 is to rest and recharge. Not adventure. Not ticking boxes. Rest. For some that’s enjoying the local, seasonal produce that our restaurants and pubs do so well, for others it might be accommodation where nature is right at the doorstep. These are people who are choosing with intention, seeking something real, something that stays with them. That’s who we speak to, and that’s who we’re
seeing visit Tasmania in growing numbers.
As an industry we punch well above our weight, and our brand is strong, but with other states investing heavily in marketing to capture traveller market share, we need to continue to be smarter, bolder and more targeted with every dollar we spend to stay competitive. Our Off Season campaign wraps up at the end of August after a strong sixth year, and we look forward to sharing our next iteration of Come Down For Air later this year. We will be continuing to prioritise USA, Greater China and the UK for international growth and nurturing markets like Singapore, New Zealand and India. We also need to keep building momentum in visitor contribution, workforce and infrastructure. Three years into our 2030 Visitor Economy Strategy, our foundations are strong, and our four year action plan, 2030 and Beyond, sets out the next chapter across five focus areas: building our brand, growing our experiences, accelerating events, strengthening access, and investing in demand driving infrastructure. You can check out the report along with our recently launched 2026-2029 Corporate Plan on tourismtasmania.com.au . There’s a lot of challenges facing our industry, but also a lot of positives. The world wants what Tasmania does naturally, our job is to keep showing up as ourselves. Because a thriving visitor economy benefits all Tasmanians.
59 Tasmanian Hospitality Review August/September Edition
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator