Tasmania’s first comprehensive access strategy, Access 2020, will help to build on the record number of visitors coming to our state and help Tasmanian businesses get their products to the world.
Access 2020 is a strategy that will chart a course to ensure we can meet the growing and changing needs of passengers and producers.
Developed with our key gateways including airports, TasPorts and TT-Line, the plan aims to increase air capacity by 140,000 new seats each year, increase the Spirits’ day sailings, open up new interstate and overseas markets for producers and boost cruise ship visitation.
This plan will help to reach two of our goals of attracting 1.5 million visitors to Tasmania every year by 2020 and growing the value of our agriculture sector tenfold to $10 billion by 2050.
As an island state it is absolutely critical that we have reliable, regular access by air and sea, it is key to growing our economy and creating jobs.
Our competitive ability to secure sustainable air and sea services to both Australian and international hubs has never been stronger, visitor numbers are at record levels and there is massive demand for our high value and high quality fresh produce, business opportunities and leisure activities.
That’s why after coming to Government we established a new Access Working Group to develop Access 2020 and oversee the delivery of its goals, including:
• Domestic Air Access Development; growing capacity across key routes like Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, increase availability of low fares and create direct domestic routes;
• International Air Access Development; Grow international visitation by improving connections to Tasmania and secure direct flights from two international cities by 2020;
• Sea Access and Cruise Development; Grow TT-Line passengers by 10,000 a year, grow cruise ship visits and time spent in port and grow yield from the cruise ship sector;
• Regional Air Access Development; Grow visitors and yield in regional areas of Tasmania and improve sustainability of regional access infrastructure;
• Air Freight Access Development; introduce air-freight solutions, particularly for new, growing export markets and increase air freight uptake to improve service viability.
I thank the Access Working Group on delivering Access 2020, and look forward to its ongoing work in delivering effective, sustainable and affordable air and sea services to and from our island state.
Access 2020 is available here: http://www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/news/pages/tasmanian_access_strategy
Will Hodgman, Premier Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events
