We hosted Tourism Australia in Hobart for their annual Immersion Session this week, sharing our progress, achievements and strategic priorities for the year ahead. It's an important opportunity to discuss how Tasmania fits into the 'Team Australia' approach to promoting Australia internationally. Alongside the planning sessions, the program included a starry night cruise on the Derwent and a tour of MONA's new library space, Phrontisterion.
Our CEO Sarah Kingston Clark spoke with Tourism Australia Managing Director Robin Mack about what's happening internationally right now. Robin shares that arrivals across all 16 of Tourism Australia's focus markets are in growth, forward bookings are up across most regions, and more flights are coming into Australia this year than last.
Our collaborative work with Tourism Australia continues across our key markets of New Zealand, Singapore, Mainland China, Hong Kong, USA and UK, and our emerging market of India, focusing on travel trade partnerships, content partnerships and PR activity.
We partnered with Tourism Australia on the inaugural G’Day Stories media event in March, representing Tasmania alongside Bellebonne’s Natalie Fryar of wine industry fame, and showcasing the state's tourism experiences to 40 top-tier international media and content creators.
As part of the G’Day Stories activity, Tourism Tasmania secured famil visits for nine international media and content creators from the US, UK, Singapore, New Zealand, Germany, India and Japan. The visits generated strong visibility, high impact social media engagement and editorial coverage across major international publications.
We recently co-hosted Chinese Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) in partnership with Tourism Australia, resulting in some excellent coverage. This extended to two of the KOLs sharing their stunning travel videos and heartfelt insights with nearly 60 top-tier media representatives and distinguished guests at a media event in Shanghai last week.
We also work closely with Tourism Australia on trade development and partnership marketing campaigns across all key markets, and will very soon join TA’s Australia Marketplace South East Asia, and later in the year at Marketplace United Kingdom and Europe.
The 2026 Tasmanian Tourism Conference is in Launceston on 28 and 29 July, less than a month away. Robin Mack will be there talking about global shifts in the tourism landscape.
ATEC Meeting Place 2026 is coming to Hobart, bringing international buyers and distribution partners to our doorstep. Registrations close 19 July. Not an ATEC member? You can still attend the networking events and conference program. Register now.
We're working towards a goal of 20 per cent of all visitors to Tasmania being international by 2030, with growth across both awareness and consideration of Tasmania presenting a real opportunity to build familiarity in the markets that matter most.
In the year ending March 2026, Tasmania welcomed 10.1 per cent more international visitors than the previous year, who spent more per visit and per night, while maintaining Tasmania's share of all international visitors to Australia. Visitors stayed 5.09 million nights, up 17.9 per cent, and international spend reached a record $758.6 million, up 36.2 per cent on YE March 2025. Mainland China recorded a 58.9 per cent increase in visitation and a 99 per cent increase in spend. Hong Kong is now our highest spending international market.
Strong results, reflecting the work of our international team, our partnership with Tourism Australia, and the operators and distribution partners helping bring Tasmania to the world.