Business, community and tourism leaders have had the opportunity today to tour one of our “new” Spirit of Tasmania ferries at an open day in Devonport.
The Liberal Government’s plan for the Spirits has seen the vessels refurbished to enhance the passenger experience, particularly for day sailings, which have been increased to take the total number of crossings to a record of 800 this year.
We want the Spirits to play a key role in helping to achieve our vision of attracting 1.5 million visitors a year to the State by 2020, and they are already delivering results.
Forward bookings for day sailings were up a massive 126 per cent on the previous year as of last month – even before a new promotional campaign had begun.
Clearly, there is excitement building around our new Spirits.
Today I was pleased to host Premier Will Hodgman and stakeholders, including TT-Line management and staff, those involved in the refurbishment project, and local business, community and tourism leaders.
The Spirit of Tasmania ferries are particularly important to regional tourism, and it was great to see so many with an interest in the success of the local industry see how these ships have been transformed.
By bringing more and more visitors to our State, the “new” Spirits are helping to grow our tourism industry and, most importantly, create jobs.
Rene Hidding, Minister for Infrastructure
