As we head into the second week of Tasmanian school holidays, I wanted to thank everyone working in industry right now servicing our visitors. I also want to acknowledge that for some, it's a tough time with the cost of doing business rising and cost of living impacting some in our community.

That's why it was so important for the Federal Assistant Tourism Minister, Senator Nita Green to hear directly from operators in both northern and southern Tasmania this week. Not only did the Senator hear about the opportunities, she also heard about the impact rising costs are having - particularly in hospitality and the TICT's thoughts continue to be with those team members impacted by recent hospitality closures in the south of the state. The Senator intends to raise the matters with her colleagues, and we will be following up.

At the same time, it was good to have the visitor economy front and centre as a core pillar at the Premier's Northern Economic Development summit this week, where I was able to present on the critical role I believe our industry will make to the north's future. I look forward to hearing the ideas put forward by the 150 or so community leaders in the room.

It's your final chance to register for the Tasmanian Tourism Conference if you haven't already! Numbers are looking great and we can't wait to bring our industry together.

And there are some really interesting new initiatives underway if you are an accredited operator, which you can read more about below.

Looking forward to seeing you all in just over a week’s time at the conference! Please stay safe.

Amy Hills, CEO