Bookings show interstate tourists are heading to Tasmania for a slice of luxury this Christmas
News that Tasmania will soon open to Victoria has seen a surge in bookings for big name hotels, as a buzz of optimism returns to Tasmania’s high-end tourism market.
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A BUZZ of optimism has returned to Tasmania’s high-end tourism market as mainlanders with cabin fever waste little time booking their “once in a lifetime” Apple Isle experience.
However, tourism industry lobbyist Luke Martin said plenty of businesses were still doing it tough, with bookings yet to trickle down to those catering for the week-long visitors who tend to stay in motels and caravan parks.
“We expected a bit of pent-up demand and certainly the anecdotes around the industry are very positive,” Mr Martin said.
“Different markets will switch on at different times. What we are seeing is a lot of people from Victoria and New South Wales who have spent months in versions of lockdown and are looking for their once in a lifetime Tasmanian experience, which is the higher end accommodation, those multi-day walks and other icon products.
“The market we are yet to see are the people who want to see it (borders opening) to believe it and others who are a bit nervous. Hopefully they will come next summer and next autumn,” he said.
News that Tasmania will open to Victoria on November 27 has seen a surge in bookings for big name hotels including Federal Group’s Henry Jones and Macq01, which are reopening seven days a week.
The company’s tourism manager Matt Casey said bookings for Macq01 had nearly doubled in recent weeks and those for the Henry Jones Art Hotel were up nearly 80 per cent on last November.
“Nearly half of all guests at Henry Jones and Macq01 are from NSW and we look forward to welcoming guests from right around the country as border restrictions continue to ease,” Mr Casey said.
“When we look at December bookings, it’s clear that a significant number of people from Queensland and NSW are planning to spend Christmas in Hobart, which will be a massive boost for our tourism and hospitality sectors.”
In the north of the state, locals and, more recently, visitors from NSW have been enjoying Tasmania’s world famous Barnbougle golf resort in virtual isolation, but managing director Penny Sattler said the Victorian border news had seen strong bookings across all of 2021.
“Having those definite dates has been great for us and there’s a lot of excitement out of Victoria, which is our biggest market,” Ms Sattler said.
“At the moment we’re still down about 75 per cent, but getting up to normal for December.”
Like many operators, she was extremely grateful for the support shown by Tasmanians since the business reopened in July.
“It’s been very quiet and we’ve had super support from Tasmanians, they’ve kept our heads just above the water,” Ms Sattler said.
Shannon Wells from Par Avion said he was yet to see a surge in interstate bookings, possibly because people were choosing to book once they actually arrive in Tasmania, but locals were continuing to lap up the chance to head to the South West, including over New Years.
Boat tour operator Robert Pennicott said his business was nearing 70 per cent of bookings for December compared with last year and he was optimistic it would be “a good summer”.
“I think if businesses aren’t at 50 per cent of where they were for the same time last year through no fault of their own, due to border restrictions or social distancing, I think there should be some other stimulus package to assist with that, but as long as there’s 50 per cent of people here than were the year before, it’s up to us to restructure our business to actually cope under the new numbers,” Mr Pennicott said.
Mr Martin said Tasmania was not yet out of the woods, with the end of JobKeeper looming in March, banks starting to “call in their mortgages” and no festivals confirmed for the winter.
“It’s now about what we can do over winter with events and festivals. But I’m more optimistic than I was a couple of months ago,’ he said.
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