Tasmania is China Ready

China is our number one international tourist market and its growing.

For Tasmania to leverage off the unprecedented interest China has in this state it is imperative we are “China ready”.

For the first time, the Tasmanian Tourism Awards, to be held tonight, will have a “China Market Export Development Award” which recognises our strong focus on tapping into the huge tourism opportunities the Chinese market represents.

Two finalists have been named in the inaugural awards:

• Curringa Farm Tours and Accommodation
• Wrest Point China Market Development Program

The award will be judged by China experts Richard Beere and Bob Priestley.

The announcement will come at the end of four rounds of tourism business development workshops held Statewide in the past two weeks.

Workshops on cultural awareness training for front of house staff and professional sales for owner-operators wanting to market and access China inbound markets have been very popular.

About 200 participants have taken part in the past two weeks, on top of 400 who participated in the workshops last year. Approximately 300 individual tourism businesses have participated in at least one of Richard Beere’s workshops in the past year.

This highlights the importance the industry places on ensuring Tasmania is China ready.

The Tasmanian Government is committed to attracting 1.5 million visitors to Tasmania every year by 2020, which the industry says will create 8,000 new jobs.

A record 28,000 Chinese visited Tasmania in the year to June 2015, which is a 38 per cent increase on the year prior.

As we become more and more “China ready” our appeal to the Chinese market will grow further
Will Hodgman, Premier Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events