Congratulations to Mark and Vanessa Dunbabin, and their business partners, Tom Gray and Alice Bennett, on the opening of the Bangor Wine and Oyster Shed, the latest addition to Tasmania’s food tourism offering.
The Bangor Wine and Oyster Shed is the kind of exciting new tourism experience that will help us reach the target of attracting 1.5 million visitors to the state each year by 2020.
Their new paddock to plate tourism experience will no doubt tempt many a traveller with the promise and delivery of some of the freshest and greatest produce the world has to offer.
This venture will tap into an incredible emerging market, with food tourism said to be a billion dollar opportunity according to Tourism Australia research.
Tasmania’s reputation for producing quality produce means we already attract an impressive share of gourmet travellers, with more than 280,000 interstate and international tourists visiting a food producer while in Tasmania, more than 170,000 visiting a winery and more than 150,000 stopping at a brewery or distillery.
The Bangor property also tells an incredible Tasmanian tale, with the investment following the devastating 2013 bushfires that damaged much of the property and destroyed its original shearing shed.
The Tasmanian Government contributed $125,000 to this $500,000 project as a regional initiative to help diversify the local economy following the fires.
Importantly, the wine and oyster shed will create four jobs to start, and help stimulate other investments in the Tasman Peninsula region.
Will Hodgman, Premier Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events
