Spirits Update - Tourism and Hospitality Industry

This week I announced the way forward in relation to the Spirit of Tasmania vessels and berthing infrastructure.

Firstly, I want to thank you for your patience as infrastructure and engineering experts, Ben Moloney and Peter Gemell, have worked tirelessly and thoroughly to provide advice and recommendations to the Government on the best way forward.

The Tasmanian Government will prioritise the construction of berthing infrastructure at Berth 3E, proceeding with the most cost-effective and efficient option.

While the Government had investigated modifying Berth 1E in order to bring the vessels to Devonport sooner, the Report has found it would be unsafe.

Options to modify both Berth 1E and Berth 2E were also investigated but found any modifications would provide limited benefits, cost the taxpayer up to $60 million and would require significant timely and costly compensation and renegotiation of agreements.

Revised timelines show the new Terminal 3 may not be completed until February 2027 unless risks are appropriately managed or mitigated.

By accelerating the construction of Berth 3E infrastructure, it is anticipated that the completion date can potentially be brought forward to October 2026, in time for the 2026-27 peak summer period.

With the first new Spirit of Tasmania vessel due to depart Finland in the coming weeks, TT-Line is now exploring opportunities to lease or charter the vessel during the interim period.

TT-Line have employed a broker to identify the most suitable locations for leasing, with the aim of making it as financially beneficial for Tasmanians as possible.

Should leasing opportunities not prove financially beneficial, TT-Line will seek a cost-effective medium-term storage option in Tasmania. If this eventuates, the Tasmanian Government will ensure that TasPorts will not charge TT-Line to store the vessels.

TT-line has engaged the Project Director that successfully delivered the Spirit of Tasmania Geelong Port upgrades to direct TT-line’s delivery team.

The Project Director will report directly to the TT-line Board as the accountable authority responsible to the Government for delivering this project.

The Department of State Growth will oversee the project, which will be subject to regular six monthly ‘Health Check’ reviews and project assurance reviews.

I absolutely recognise the situation we are in is deeply disappointing for everyone, particularly people in our tourism and hospitality industry, but I am committed to supporting the industry as we move forward with delivering Berth 3

On Thursday, I announced a comprehensive tourism and hospitality package to boost visitation, support our local tourism and hospitality businesses and make life more affordable over the coming 24 months.

These initiatives are designed to drive visitation and encourage regional dispersal across all seasons.

The package includes $6 million to drive visitation to Tasmania via the Spirit of Tasmania by reducing fares and delivering additional day sailings, across peak and off-peak seasons.

We will provide additional funding to increase air capacity in the North, South and North-West of the State and deliver air and car hire packages to encourage those arriving by air to get out and enjoy our regions.

A $5 million Spirit Preparedness Fund will be established to support tourism and hospitality businesses and Councils to develop new products and offerings, enhance existing attractions, and deliver local infrastructure such as signage and charging stations. This fund will work off a 50:50 co-contribution.

A $5 million Events Tasmania Attraction Fund will be available to secure more events and business events for the State.

We know that events like Bicheno Beams and Permission to Trespass have been hugely successful in drawing visitors to our regions and we want to support more events like these.

We will also launch a new voucher scheme, Eat Local, Stay Local, to encourage Tasmanians to travel and eat out. There will be 100,000 vouchers on offer, valued at $100 each, commencing for the start of the 2025 easter school holidays and continuing through the off season.

I will now work with the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania and our regional tourism organisations to finalise the details for each of these investments.

The next tourism roundtable is on 1 November where this package will be discussed further with industry.

I have said we will sort the spirits, fix the GBEs and back Tasmania’s tourism industry, and that’s what we are doing.

Despite the challenges, Tasmanians can be confident we will get this project back on track and ensure such a failure will never happen again.

Again, thank you for your patience through this challenging period.

The Tasmanian tourism and hospitality industry is truly world-class.

I am immensely proud of the businesses, people and products that make this industry so special.

I look forward to continuing to work with you to support and grow the industry, ensuring Tasmania remains a world class travel destination.

You can read a copy of their final report here.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Rockliff
Premier of Tasmania