Health and wellbeing fuel tourism boom for Tasmania

FITNESS tourism has emerged as a potential gold mine for Tasmania.

Runner Hanny Allston from Find Your Feet on Mt Wellington. Hanny runs sell out running tours in Tasmania and internationally.

FITNESS tourism has emerged as a potential goldmine for the state.

The latest data from Tourism Tasmania’s Tourism Visitor Survey showed more than 30 per cent of visitors to the state in the 12 months to September went on a bushwalk or other form of walk and the number of cyclists more than doubled.

The survey showed 344,596 of the record 1,062,700 visitors to Tasmania over the period went walking, an increase of more than 18 per cent on the previous 12 months.

And the number of visitors who went cycling rose 57.6 per cent to 28,000 in the 12-month period.

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World orienteering champion and long-distance runner Hanny Allston has returned to Hobart, where her business Find Your Feet has found a growing market in running tours.

“Our first one was Gone Running to the East Coast of Tasmania in October for 10 people and that sold out overnight,” Ms Allston said.

“We released one to the Italian Dolomites, which will go in July this year, and that sold out within a week.

“And we’ve got another one to the mountain regions of Tasmania in April and that one has already sold out as well.”

2013 Tour de France champion Chris Froome and Tasmanian Richie Porte ride through Launceston's City Park. Picture: ROSS MARSDEN

Tasmania’s global reputation as a world-class cycling and walking destination has been boosted after being named the No.4 must-see destination for 2015 by Lonely Planet, which rates the West Coast as among the world’s best cycling destinations.

“Tasmania is just set up for cycling tourism, the towns are quite reasonably spaced out and they are steeped in history,” said Bicycle Network Tasmania’s government and external relations co-ordinator Garry Bailey.

Tandem duo Alex and Steph Neumann would agree.

The German couple are travelling around Australia and aim to ride from Darwin to Darwin over a period of 10 months.

“We want [to] enjoy the landscape and the nature and therefore travel slowly,” they said.

“A bike is perfect to do so.”

And champion international cyclists Chris Froome and Richie Porte shone the spotlight on Tasmania with a cycling tour of the state late last year.

Mountain bikers are flocking to new trails at Hollybank in the state’s North and a new project in Derby has already been dubbed one of the best before it even opens next month, says Tourism Northern Tasmania chief Chris Griffin.

“We’ve really investigated cycling tourism,” Mr Griffin said. “Some of our estimates show that by 2018, 15,000 mountain bikers will travel to Northern Tasmania annually and we’re still not sure on road cycling numbers.”

It is hoped the increase in cycling tourists will revitalise the West Coast, with the Government to spend $1.2 million on eight mountain bike trails in the region.

“Attractions like our wilderness rides allow cyclists to get off the beaten track and will no doubt help to reach our target of attracting 1.5 million visitors to our state every year by 2020,” Acting Tourism Minister Jeremy Rockliff said.

Originally published as Health and wellbeing fuel tourism boom for Tasmania