Spirit bookings continue to skyrocket

Tasmanians and visitors alike are queueing up to travel on the “new” Spirit of Tasmania ferries after their recent refurbishments.

Since TT-Line moved to a new Internet booking platform on 22 July, the average number of bookings each week has been 9450.

All the more impressive is that in the week ending 1 November, the company booked 13,360 passengers for travel on the Spirits this year and beyond.

That’s the highest number of bookings taken in a single week since June 2010, when the company booked 13,549 passengers.

The previous week – the week ending 25 October – also saw the highest number of bookings since 2010, with 11,151.

Only a fortnight ago we were able to announce that due to a massive 17 per cent increase in forward bookings for travel in November through January, TT-Line has added an extra 16 day sailings this summer.

This has brought the total number of scheduled day sailings to 121 for the current financial year – a 50 per cent increase on 2013-14, just two years ago.

Clearly, the Hodgman Liberal Government’s plan for the Spirits to refocus on passengers and play a leading role in achieving our vision of attracting 1.5 million visitors a year to the State by 2020 is delivering.

The refurbishments, which have dramatically improved the day sailing experience for passengers, have captured the imagination of travellers from home and interstate.

TT-Line is building on its success in 2014-15, which saw passenger numbers grow by eight per cent and average fares fall by eight per cent in real terms.
Rene Hidding, Minister for Infrastructure