00:00Rod Black manages hotels in Hobart and near Sorel.
00:06He says winter with a scaled back dark mofo festival was quieter than usual.
00:10Definitely this winter it's been softer.
00:13The one in the region which is only 40 minutes from Hobart city is softer again than in the
00:18city itself.
00:19The Tasmanian Hospitality Association says less than 57% of Tasmanian hotel rooms were
00:25filled in June this year.
00:27That occupancy rate is even lower than in June 2021 when Tasmania's border was closed
00:33due to COVID.
00:35This winter hotels in the south and north were fuller than those on the east coast and
00:39the northwest where occupancy fell to 38%.
00:43You can't have half your rooms not full for a period through the winter months it makes
00:46it really hard to keep your employment levels up and all your other things that you need
00:50to as a business.
00:51Tourism industry organisations want more collaboration between government and business to introduce
00:57fund and promote more winter events both in Hobart and the regions.
01:02They say a strong winter program for 2025 will improve visitor numbers.
01:07Summer will generally take care of itself but winter is a real worry and if we're going
01:10to deal with next winter and make sure we don't have a similar one this year we need
01:13to get a solid program out soon.
01:14We need to look for innovation we need to look for the next big thing especially in
01:19our regions.
01:20Rod Black says Tasmania needs to make the most of what makes it unique to attract tourists.
01:25Tasmania's always been a premium to luxury product and keeping that brand really really
01:31high really attractive to explorers and people that are looking to learn and find new things.
01:37Can I say as well that's why it's so important that we're backing in our own team in the
01:41AFL because it is a huge driver of winter based tourism to our state.
01:47But with a stadium still years away operators also want more urgent solutions.
Comments