Tasmanian tourism is on top of the world

TASMANIA’S tourism star continues to rise with another website ranking the state as one of the best travel destinations in the world.

Travel book sales data shows Tasmania is the third most popular destination for buyers on amazon.com.au

TASMANIA has been ranked in the top three best destinations in the world by Australian travellers, mixing it with Japan, Europe, the US and South America.

Amazon.com.au has ranked Tasmania at number three in its top 10 Easter travel destinations based on travel book sales on its Australian site since December.

The Apple Isle came in behind top-ranked Japan and Europe but proved to be more popular than Hawaii, Italy, India, USA, the rest of Australia, South America and Spain.

The ranking came as Tasmanian Visitor Survey results revealed a 2 per cent increase in overall visitors to Tasmania last calendar year, jumping to a record 1.26 million tourists.

The results, commissioned by Tourism Tasmania, also showed visitor spending rose 8 per cent to a record $2.32 billion, with each visitor spending on average of $216 per night. Total nights were also up 1 per cent.

The East Coast region experienced the highest visitor growth for regions, up 10 per cent.

It comes just weeks after the RACT unveiled nine new coastal pavilions at its Freycinet Lodge.

RACT’s Harvey Lennon with tourism developer Brett Torossi at Freycinet Lodge.

The survey also found visitor growth in the North was up 3 per cent, 2 per cent in the South and 1 per cent in the Cradle Mountain area.

People visiting friends or relatives was up 5 per cent, while holiday travel was up 4 per cent. Business travel was down 5 per cent.

However, Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the 2 per cent

rise in visitors was less than growth from 2016, which had increased 5 per cent on 2015.

“We will monitor it over the TVS results over the next six months,” he said.

“Leisure was very strong and the regions were strong and were outperforming Hobart.

“We want to grow [numbers and spending] but we’re not looking at mass tourism. It’s now less about visitor growth but spending ... and visitors are spending most out into the regional areas.

“[But] Hobart was very full over the summer which is starting to be a challenge [in terms of] accommodation and full hotels. There are more flights needed.”

New direct flights from Adelaide and the Gold Coast contributed to 12 per cent growth from the South Australian market and an 11 per cent increase from the Queensland market last year.

Premier and Tourism Minister Will Hodgman was buoyed by the news.

“The entire state is sharing the benefits with tourism growth recorded in every region, meaning visitors are travelling further afield and spending money outside our major cities,” he said.

The growth follows news earlier this month from the 2017 International Visitor Survey, which revealed an 18 per cent growth in overseas visitors to 279,000, who spent $497 million.