Hobart alderman Simon Behrakis says cruise ships should visit Tasmania’s Salamanca Market
A Hobart alderman has joined with Salamanca Market stallholders in calling for cruise ships to change their schedules so passengers can visit the weekly event.
Tasmania
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A HOBART alderman has joined with Salamanca Market stallholders in calling for cruise ships to change their schedules so passengers can visit the iconic weekly event.
Simon Behrakis said his analysis of TasPorts schedules showed just three cruise ships were set to berth in Hobart on a Saturday in 2019. This compared to eight last year.
“There isn’t a lot of support for cruise ships in areas like Wineglass Bay, but you’d struggle to find a stall holder on Salamanca Market that wouldn’t welcome a few thousand extra customers looking for premium Tasmanian products to take home with them,” Alderman Behrakis said.
“There are nearly 70 cruise ships berthing in Hobart during 2019 and the fact that just three are here while the market is on is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.
Salamanca Market Stallholders’ Association president Kasha Siena said she supported any efforts to bring more cruise ships to the capital on a Saturday.
“I know economically it makes a huge difference to stallholders,” Ms Siena said.
“[And] I know for a fact that people coming off the cruise ships absolutely enjoy Salamanca Market as a destination.”
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ANGER OVER CRUISE SHIPS IN WINEGLASS BAY
But Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said while the state could be more strategic about cruise ship operations, he believed stallholders could innovate to service the passengers, including by offering stalls elsewhere on a Sunday.
“We’re only talking about a few weeks of the year and the reality is Hobart’s busy enough as it is,” Mr Martin said.
“There’s a risk around having cruise ships in when Hobart’s very busy already and how that impacts on the markets.”
A state government spokesman said the government was already working with cruise ship operators “to ensure visits are spread across the season and additional shore-based activities are developed to further disperse people throughout the state”.
“The government also wants to encourage visitors to spend more time in Tasmania before or after their cruise, which is why we are encouraging cruise ship operators to make Hobart a start or end point of their itineraries,” the spokesman said.
The Pacific Jewel was scheduled to dock in Hobart about 12.45pm yesterday.
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