Premier Will Hodgman rejects Hobart Lord Mayor Ron Christie’s call to scrap tourism ads
MULTI-MILLION DOllar advertising campaigns promoting Tasmania as a tourist destination should be scrapped, according to Hobart’s Lord Mayor.
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MULTI-MILLION DOllar advertising campaigns promoting Tasmania as a tourist destination should be scrapped, according to Hobart’s Lord Mayor.
In an article for today’s Mercury, Alderman Ron Christie made the call for the State Government to stop “selling” its capital city because it can’t sustain the growth in visitors.
But Premier Will Hodgman and the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania strongly rejected the Lord Mayor’s concerns, saying tourism was a key industry for the city and state.
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“We’ve got used to Ron, his grenade comments and desperate grasps for attention and we’ve learned to stop taking him seriously,” TICT chief executive Luke Martin said.
“One cannot wait until the October local government elections to have a mayor that isn’t embarrassing.”
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The latest figures from Tourism Tasmania showed 1.28 million people visited the state for the year ending March 2018, up from 1.27 million the previous year.
Visitor expenditure increased by 7 per cent to $2.37 billion in the same period and tourism supported about 38,000 Tasmanian jobs, almost 16 per cent of the total workforce — the highest proportion in the country.
Ald Christie said the growth was not sustainable.
“Our leaders can reduce the multi-million dollar advertising spend on national and international campaigning,” he said. “Word of mouth is out there doing the job for us and it will continue for several years.”
He said he didn’t deny the benefits of tourism but was concerned that no one was in control of the “stealth invasion”.
“Give us time to cope with this infrastructure rush so we can maintain and sustain the 80,000 people that come into our city each day and the 22 extra hotels and student accommodation on the way,” Ald Christie said.
Tourism Minister Mr Hodgman said Tasmania’s holiday industry was one of the best in the world and a key driver of employment.
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“I totally reject any suggestion that we should take our foot off the pedal or risk turning visitors away by removing the welcome mat,” he said.
“The Government is committed to getting the balance right.”
jack.paynter@news.com.au
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