An unusually quiet winter for hotel operators has Tasmania’s tourism industry raising the alarm. New data shows just 57 per cent of the state's hotel beds were filled in June, the lowest occupancy rate since June 2021, when Tasmania's borders were closed to keep out covid.
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00:00Rod Black manages hotels in Hobart and near Sorel.
00:06He says winter with a scaled back dark mofo festival was quieter than usual.
00:10Definitely this winter it's been softer.
00:13The one in the region which is only 40 minutes from Hobart city is softer again than in the
00:18city itself.
00:19The Tasmanian Hospitality Association says less than 57% of Tasmanian hotel rooms were
00:25filled in June this year.
00:27That occupancy rate is even lower than in June 2021 when Tasmania's border was closed
00:33due to COVID.
00:35This winter hotels in the south and north were fuller than those on the east coast and
00:39the northwest where occupancy fell to 38%.
00:43You can't have half your rooms not full for a period through the winter months it makes
00:46it really hard to keep your employment levels up and all your other things that you need
00:50to as a business.
00:51Tourism industry organisations want more collaboration between government and business to introduce
00:57fund and promote more winter events both in Hobart and the regions.
01:02They say a strong winter program for 2025 will improve visitor numbers.
01:07Summer will generally take care of itself but winter is a real worry and if we're going
01:10to deal with next winter and make sure we don't have a similar one this year we need
01:13to get a solid program out soon.
01:14We need to look for innovation we need to look for the next big thing especially in
01:19our regions.
01:20Rod Black says Tasmania needs to make the most of what makes it unique to attract tourists.
01:25Tasmania's always been a premium to luxury product and keeping that brand really really
01:31high really attractive to explorers and people that are looking to learn and find new things.
01:37Can I say as well that's why it's so important that we're backing in our own team in the
01:41AFL because it is a huge driver of winter based tourism to our state.
01:47But with a stadium still years away operators also want more urgent solutions.