TVS Snapshot - 15 June 2011

CEO Commentary

This is my first TVS release as the CEO of Tourism Tasmania, and while I can see that some figures reflect positive aspects for our tourism industry, there are others that continue to demonstrate the challenges we all face in a dramatically changing domestic and global environment.

On the positive front, the total number of visitors coming to Tasmania for all purposes on scheduled air and sea services in the 12 months to March 2011 remained steady compared with the same period the previous year. I can see that the past two TVS reporting periods each showed small declines of 1%, so in the current environment this result is certainly more positive.

I am also pleased to see that total spending by all visitors to Tasmania grew by 1% to $1.55 billion. Visitor spending and yield is vital to this industry and must always be an important consideration in what we do and who we seek to attract.

Not only that but we experienced growth of 10% and 6% respectively in the number of people coming to Tasmania to visit their friends and relatives, or to attend conferences. Of course, this growth simply offsets a 7% fall in the number of people coming to Tasmania purely for the purpose of having a holiday – and we have heard much about the current effect of cheap airfares, the exchange rate and overseas deals in driving Australians overseas for their holidays.

What I am less pleased about was people's shorter length of stay, and with the exception of the Launceston, Tamar Valley and North region, the reduction in the number of people visiting our other regions. This supports the feedback I have been receiving from tourism businesses and organisations during my recent travels.

Of course, it may mean our many visitors are preferring to spend their time and dollars at fewer locations, and I certainly hope this would mean they'd be back again to explore the other areas of our state in more depth. However we cannot assume this will be the case so we need to get a better handle on this.

What the figures clearly reveal was that while some of our visitors were spending less time in Tasmania, on average they were generally spending more money during their visit.

It demonstrates that those who come here to visit friends and relatives and to attend conferences, do spend a lot of money in the state while they're here. Their dollars are equally important in keeping our attractions, accommodation providers, tour operators, cafes, restaurants, petrol stations, retail outlets and other services going during this challenging time for the tourism industry nationally.

That is why we must continue to focus our promotions at the interstate and international markets that offer the most potential for Tasmania, but not just in terms of visitor numbers – we also need to look at markets that will drive increased spending and yields for our tourism businesses.

Tony Mayell
CEO

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