Why we should holiday at home and support Tassie businesses

There’s no better time to revisit a holiday destination on home turf, or tick off a Tasmanian bucket list experience that you’ve always wanted to try but never been able to get to. You’ll be greeted by some very grateful business owners who have done it incredibly tough over the past few months.

IT contributes more than $3 billion to our Gross State Product and supports about 42,000 jobs in Tasmania, yet the tourism industry, one of Tasmania’s key economic pillars, has been brought to its knees by the coronavirus crisis.

For all Tasmania’s internal parochialism, when the chips are down, we know how to band together for matters in the best interest of our island state.

If you cast your mind back to March, which seems like it was light years ago given what we’ve been through since the COVID-19 crisis escalated in Australia, Premier Peter Gutwein was under increasing pressure to pull up the drawbridge and close Tasmania’s borders.

The expert medical advice of the day indicated the move wasn’t necessary, and Mr Gutwein faced the tough choice between crippling our already battered tourism businesses or risking losing control of the incredibly contagious virus.

On March 18, the Mercury published a full-page open letter from health, business and community leaders calling on the Premier to put in place 14-day compulsory quarantine to all travellers into Tasmania.

Two days later, we carried a front page emblazoned with the headline: “We’ve got a moat and we’re not afraid to use it”.

Mr Gutwein had made one of the toughest calls of his career to date after which, remarkably, we witnessed a rare show of unity, with the Premier receiving resounding praise from rival politicians. Even those hardest hit in the tourism industry backed the decision, and acknowledged the short-term pain would be for the greater good of all Tasmanians.

In saying so, those tourism operators put their self-interest to one side; livelihoods sacrificed to save lives.

And ordinary Tasmanians heeded the health advice, allowing us to collectively flatten the curve and stamp out the virus.

But the Team Tasmania spirit can’t end here.

Yesterday, Tourism Tasmania launched its Make Yourself At Home campaign, designed to encourage Tasmanians to support our local tourism industry and enjoy the sites that visitors from across the globe have been flocking to us for in recent years.

Maria Island, on Tasmania's East Coast. Picture: Flow Mountain Bike

Ordinarily, some of us would be planning our winter retreat north to Queensland or to visit relatives elsewhere in Australia.

While an overseas trip is still likely a way off, interstate travel looks increasingly likely to open up in the next month or so, but it’s important to understand that our local businesses need us now more than ever.

There’s no better time to revisit a holiday destination on home turf, or tick off a Tasmanian bucket list experience that you’ve always wanted to try but never been able to get to.

You’ll be greeted with big smiles, open arms and some very grateful business owners who have done it incredibly tough over the past few months, and who are facing an uncertain future.

But, most importantly of all, you’ll be enjoying world-class experiences that international tourists will be chomping at the bit to come back to.

So – if you can – support your fellow Tasmanians and holiday at home.