Tasmania
With visits to Tasmania and Mid North Beaches this holiday season to see how businesses are going, our team found that domestic tourism numbers are way up in the regions. On a track with my team through Launceston, Cradle Mountain (Upper-Left: Plenty of Distance), Strahan, Hamilton, Bruny Island, Hobart, Richmond, Port Arthur, St Helens, Derby, Scottsdale and back to Launceston, it would be fair to say that we took a pretty solid sample and met with many client businesses.
Whilst some of the top line businesses in Tasi, such as World Heritage Cruises who rely on a large number of international tourists had lower numbers, most of the other locations were booked solid.
MONA for example had a 2-3 hour windows where bookings were needed. The upside was the quality of the experience better with restricted numbers.
(Upper-Middle: Madonna, Zoom before it’s COVID time.)
Everywhere in Tasi had really addressed COVID, from the moment we landed at Launi Airport with Temperature scans and the 3rd degree questions, there was little doubt that every precaution to keep COVID out whilst keeping Tourism $’s flowing had been considered. Even the complimentary blankets (yes needed even in summertime) at the excellent theatrical show (Upper-Right: “The Ship that Never Was”) were being washed every day after one use.
The track St Helen’s, Derby to Scottsdale was equally busy, and our clients Scottsdale Art Gallery (Lower-Left: Owners Shirley and Rod Martin), report that even on the Sunday of our visit there were great numbers and our Touchscreen doing a great job promoting tourism.
Surfs up NSW
Moving up to some waves on the Mid North Coast, and compulsory masks through the airports and on planes, we were careful not to stop in Greater Sydney as we may have been stopped on our return to the ACT. It was great to see Port Stephens operating pretty much at full capacity as usual however with everyone even on the beaches complying with the surf lifesaving announcements to keep apart.
Unusual times when they were not only patrolling the water, but also the much greater risk on the beach itself. Thank goodness we live in this amazing country, and have a smart population that follows the rules. We can all be happy that business has been good, if not great, and we had a wonderful Christmas Vacation time at home. (Lower-Right: Fingal Bay, a top family beach spot with plenty of social distancing being observed) Let’s keep up the great work for the quarter ahead, as there are a lot of us with leave that can be taken outside the School Holiday periods.
Paul Buckley CEO
