A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR: A SUMMER AHEAD LIKE NO OTHER
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There is no ‘Taste’, or ‘Falls Festival’ to look forward to, and the projections indicate our visitor numbers are likely to be more like a normal Winter than the busy Summers we have come to expect.
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ormally at this time of year we would all be gearing up for another bumper Summer season. For me, this means a busy December of chocolate and cheese sales leading up to Christmas, before the peak visitor season starts at the farm on Boxing Day. Usually we would also be busy planning staff rosters and stocktake for our stall at the ‘Taste’, while juggling our kids going to ‘Falls’. There is no better place to be in Australia than Tassie over Summer, and there is usually no busier time to be in tourism in Tasmania than over the next few months. This Summer is going to be very different. There is no ‘Taste’, or ‘Falls Festival’ to look forward to, and the projections indicate our visitor numbers are likely to be more like a normal Winter then the busy summers we have come to expect. Each of us is working out in our own way how we are going to sustain our businesses over the next few months and navigate these uncertain conditions. Deciding to employ or re-employ staff, budgeting out into 2021, and making decisions about where to spend scarce marketing dollars to maximum effect. While I am very optimistic about our tourism recovery there is no doubt the next 6-12 months will continue to
challenge everyone in our industry. We need to continue to support one and other, and we need to work strategically through the challenges of a recovering visitor market. We can have confidence that we have the ear and support of government, and there will continue to be assistance provided to operators at all levels of industry. The new T21 Visitor Economy Action Plan clearly outlines our priorities over the next 12 months. • Restoring visitor demand and access to the State as quickly as possible; • Supporting businesses to keep their heads above water by reducing costs and providing targeted direct assistance to operators where its most needed; • Restore our events program in a post-COVID environment; • Keeping an eye firmly on the long-game and making decisions now that lay a path towards a very strong future for Tasmanian tourism over the next decade. From TICT’s perspective, we believe all our immediate efforts must go into restoring visitor demand as quickly and strongly as possible. Getting the visitor market back is critical as government assistance such as Job Keeper reduces.
