The Coalition Government must heed on the ground advice from Tasmania’s National Parks rangers, who say that investment in tourism infrastructure is imminently required to keep up with increasing demand.
Cradle Mountain, in particular, requires urgent infrastructure upgrades to ensure it can meet the expectations of tourists visiting the area.
Over the past six months Cradle Mountain has seen an increase in visitor numbers of 20 per cent compared to the same period the year before.
Tourism has been identified as a super growth sector, is one of our largest exports and employs more than one million Australians.
Despite this the Coalition has failed to release any national plan for tourism.
During the election the Coalition committed a token $1 million to upgrades at Cradle Mountain.
At the time, they were informed by the Tasmanian tourism industry that this fell well and truly short of the mark and would not provide the level of infrastructure investment that was required.
Indeed, the funding only covered further work on the ground plan.
Following the announcement, the Chief Executive of the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania tweeted that, “haven’t been this underwhelmed since I saw Hangover 3.”
The Coalition has had more than six months’ notice that increased investment is required for Tasmanian tourism.
It’s time they heeded advice from people on the ground as well as Tasmania’s tourism sector and provided the investment that’s needed to make a difference.