Thursday 1 November 2007

TOURISM TASMANIA'S NEW DIRECTIONS
Tourism Tasmania has seen a year of intense activity and development, and reported a number of significant achievements.

The Minister for Tourism, Arts and the Environment, Paula Wriedt, said Tourism Tasmania’s 2006-2007 Annual Report detailed an organisation focused on the development and delivery of new strategic objectives with enthusiasm and commitment.

“Tasmania has once again proven itself to be a destination of choice for national and international visitors,” Ms Wriedt said.

“This year we recorded a nine per cent increase in holiday visitor spend to $893.7 million, and increases in the average length of stay for holiday visitors to 9.5 nights and total holiday visitor nights to 3.65 million.

“In 2006 Tourism Tasmania began a business restructure and produced a three-year business strategy called New Directions for our Island.

“This re-alignment was driven by changed consumer behaviours and global travel industry trends such as the digital revolution.”

Ms Wriedt said the issue of digital distribution was a significant focus for the Tourism Tasmania Board during the year, which moved to strategically position Tasmania and the state’s tourism operators for the new reality.

“While delivery of the New Directions strategy was only in its early stages during the year, the realignment of the organisation’s internal capability, and an expansion in the creative use of media, resulted in some significant achievements.

“And with the significant additional State Government funding of $3 million per annum, Tourism Tasmania resumed television advertising in key interstate markets for the first time in many years.

“Tourism Tasmania also benefited from the two-year, $16 million State Government-sponsored Tourism Promotion Plan, which also enabled our tourism industry to undertake new tourism initiatives.

“The changing domestic and international tourism environment is creating many new opportunities for Tasmania.
“Tourism Tasmania will continue to working closely with other government departments, the tourism industry, and new marketing partners to capitalise on these opportunities.”

For further information contact Tourism Tasmania's Communications Unit

(03) 6230 8244
email mediainfo@tourism.tas.gov.au