Tasmania launches $3 million voucher campaign to get Aussies to the Apple Isle

Booking a Christmas holiday could be hundreds of dollars cheaper for booking here - but the wild deal comes with a catch.

Up to 10,000 lucky families will save $300 on their holiday to Tasmania after the Apple Isle launched a voucher program to get Aussies down south.

The Tassie Holiday Voucher program will be offered to residents in South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland to incentivise travel during the months of November and December and to boost the tourism industry in Tasmania.

Coronavirus restrictions have decimated the tourism industry across Australia as ongoing domestic and international border closures stopped tourists.

The voucher program will be funded through the federal government’s Recovery for Regional Tourism program.

The incredible Wineglass Bay in Tasmania. Picture: Luke Tscharke

The 10,000 vouchers, which will be distributed via a ballot process, will hopefully bring some much-needed cash to the state.

“We know that visitors from Victoria and NSW traditionally make up 70 per cent of total interstate visitation to Tasmania, and the ongoing border restrictions with these markets have significantly impacted our visitor economy,” Tasmania’s Tourism Minister Sarah Courtney said.

“This program is expected to stimulate travel from interstate markets that currently have open borders with Tasmania, providing vital economic support for our accommodation, tours and attractions sector.”

The announcement of Tasmania’s voucher system comes as the state prepares for more coronavirus cases, after a man managed to escape hotel quarantine in Hobart.

More than 50 people have been identified as close or casual contacts after the man travelled to Bridgewater, north of Hobart, and tested positive to coronavirus.

“Tasmanians should remain calm,” Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said today.

“In terms of the primary close contacts in relation to this case they have all been isolated; in the terms of the casual contacts all those who we are aware of have been isolated as well.”

Seven people have so far tested negative while 38 people have been identified as close contacts and 16 as casual.

Mr Gutwein told reporters from Hobart he was “expecting” more cases.