I'm providing today’s update from the beautiful Cradle Mountain where the TICT is partnering with the Parks and Wildlife Service to host the first of two Nature Tourism Symposiums being held across the state.

The team has certainly been out and about this off season delivering as many of our events and industry development programs that we can. Last week, we partnered with Wine Tasmania on our 7th annual BLEND Wine + Tourism event. It also gave us an opportunity to launch the next iteration of our Bottling Wine Tourism Plan which has a joint aspiration to make our state the best wine tourism destination on the planet.

Also, last week, it was an honour to join the Hobart Airport and Federal Transport Minister, Katherine King, to welcome the official completion of the runway strengthening and upgrade program (see pics below), future proofing this critical piece of infrastructure for many years to come and delivering what we hope will be direct flights from Asia in the near future.

From the air to the sea, Spirit of Tasmania has provided an important update on the progress on the arrival of the first of the two new ships. I know I speak on behalf of industry when I say that it will be an exciting day when we see the first of the new ships sail into Tasmanian waters in just a couple of weeks. Watch this space for a new online educational module, due to be launched later this month. We have just one final component to film, featuring the new Spirit of Tasmania vessel. Once complete, we’ll share the module with operators to provide valuable insights into the types of visitors travelling on these ships - who they are, what they’re looking for, and how you can position your business to cater to this market.

Also, our next Talking Tourism podcast episode has also been released. Keep reading for more information - and it’s on one of our most popular topics being AI!

And finally, it would be remiss of me to sign off without addressing the current political situation in Tasmania. As the return of State Parliament nears and both major parties continue their conversations with the cross bench, I intend to give you a full update on the situation following next week. The TICT will be working diligently to ensure all our elected representatives continue to understand the importance of the industry to our state and their role in delivering certainty and confidence, ensuring we continue to thrive.

Amy Hills - Chief Executive Officer, TICT