Tourism leader shows Tassie faith with investment in state's iconic walks

THE future of the state's burgeoning eco-tourism industry has received a huge endorsement from one of Australia's most prominent business figures.

Bay of Fires Lodge Walk

THE future of the state's burgeoning eco-tourism industry received a huge endorsement from one of Australia's most prominent business figures yesterday, with Virgin Australia co-founder Brett Godfrey snapping up the award-winning Tasmanian Walking Company.

The acquisition, which includes the Cradle Mountain Huts and Bay of Fires Lodge walks, is the latest in a series of recent Tasmanian tourism asset purchases by Mr Godfrey and business partner Rob Sherrard.

Mr Godfrey flew into Tasmania last night to meet the management of a company whose world-class product he said was underpinned by a peerless culture.

"The group that I'm a part of has invested pretty heavily in Tasmania in the last three years and this is our fourth asset," Mr Godfrey said.

"The Tasmanian Walking Company is just a good business run by a phenomenal team with a great culture, so we are just very happy to be involved.

"Quite frankly, we think it is a fantastic business in a tourism market still unfulfilled."

The Tasmanian Walking Company was established in 1987 and comprises the six-day Cradle Mountain Huts Walk on the Overland Track and the four-day Bay of Fires Lodge Walk on the East Coast.

Both are recognised in the seven Great Walks of Australia experiences.

Adding the under-construction Three Capes Track on the Tasman Peninsula walk to the company portfolio was a definite potential opportunity, Mr Godfrey said, and Tasmania was on the cusp of redefining how international tourists saw the island.

"People come to Australia for food security, because it's pristine and because it's an experience. And there's no more pristine place in the country than Tasmania, where the quality of food is incomparable. I think now is the time to start pushing Tasmania as not just a seasonal destination to one that might not be quite year-round but with solid shoulders."

The purchase comes 18 months after the pair reopened Hagley's Quamby Estate, which forms the base camp for the Tasmanian Walking Company and follows other tourism acquisitions including The Pilot Station at Low Head and Lake House at Cressy.

Tasmania-based Mr Sherrard said he and Mr Godfrey were delighted with their new venture, which he said represented the "perfect addition" to the pair's existing portfolio of Tasmanian properties.