Towards our one millionth tourism customer

 

By Ken Jeffreys GM Corporate Relations and Tourism
 
Sometime over the next few months, one of Forestry Tasmania’s four commercial tourism businesses will welcome FT’s one millionth tourism customer.
It’s quite an extraordinary milestone, given that it was only seven short years ago that Forestry Tasmania took the bold and visionary decision to diversify into commercial tourism.
Encouraged by the Tasmanian government, Forestry Tasmania invested $5.7m in 2002 to develop the Tahune AirWalk. This quickly became one of Tasmania’s iconic “top ten” tourism attractions.
Two years later, in the blackwood forests of the far northwest, Dismal Swamp (now Tarkine Forest Adventures) was established. It features a hair raising 110 metre long high speed slide.
Early in 2008, Hollybank Treetop Adventures opened for business as a 50% joint venture between Forestry Tasmania and a private adventure tourism company. The attraction is a high octane “zip line” ride from tree to tree through the canopy of the forest. The success of Hollybank Treetops Adventure has proven the demand for adventure tourism in Tasmania, and has also proven the worth of business models that involve Forestry Tasmania as a landlord and/or business partner, rather than as sole owner.
As we speak, Maydena Adventure Hub in the Derwent Valley is under development. It will be ready to open towards the end of the year.
As Forestry Tasmania approaches our one millionth customer, it is worth looking back at the reasons why we became involved in commercial tourism in the first place, and whether those reasons are still valid.
In the late 1990s, when plans for the Tahune AirWalk were first conceived, Tasmania was grappling with double digit unemployment, stagnant capital investment and low business confidence. Regional areas, in particular, were bearing the brunt of these tough economic conditions.
The Tasmanian government of the time was keen to stimulate regional development, particularly in areas like the Huon where there was high unemployment and a dwindling population.
Forestry Tasmania, with its obligations under the Forestry Act to promote and encourage the use of state forests for purposes other than wood production, was seen as a vehicle to stimulate regional development. The AirWalk quickly became a test case for what could be achieved.
As a regional development initiative, the Tahune AirWalk was an outstanding success It helped to re-vitalise Huonville, Geeveston, Franklin and other communities in the area. A recent economic analysis found that, for every dollar spent at the Tahune AirWalk, a further $1.52 was injected elsewhere into the local economy.
The Tahune AirWalk will remain as the proud flagship of a portfolio of tourism businesses on state forest.
Encouraged by the success of the Tahune AirWalk, Forestry Tasmania set its sights on developing Dismal Swamp in the far northwest, and on investigating other potential sites around the State.
In short, this regional development strategy gave birth to Tarkine Forest Adventures, Hollybank Treetops Adventure and (soon) the Maydena Adventure Hub.
In the years since the opening of the Tahune AirWalk, the tourism industry has grown and matured, with healthy levels of private investment throughout the State. As Forestry Tasmania approaches the milestone of its one millionth tourism customer, it is timely to review the need for Forestry Tasmania to continue to play the stimulatory role that it has been playing in this field.
We have been asking ourselves the big questions. These include the following.
The overriding conclusion we have reached is that Forestry Tasmania has always been, and will always be, inextricably linked with the tourism industry – whether it’s as a land manager and provider of recreational facilities or as a commercial owner/operator, a joint venturer or a partner with others.
We have also concluded that:
However, we are the first to recognise that, in order to move forward, our policies and strategies have to be grounded in commercial reality.
Before committing to a course of action, we want to “test the market”. This is to get a feel for the opportunities that might exist to drive our tourism business to the next level.
We believe the greatest unmet potential exists in the Tarkine, particularly when the Tarkine Drive is completed. Tarkine Forest Adventures, at Dismal Swamp, can play a major role in the development of the Tarkine as a destination for nature enthusiasts.
We are proud of the fact that Tarkine Forest Adventures is already visited by over 17,000 people each year, and that the site offers a much needed activity in the far northwest. However, we may be only touching the tip of the iceberg, and others might be better placed to realise the potential of this wonderful site.
In the near future, Forestry Tasmania will go to an “expression of interest” process, to see if there are other businesses and / or individuals that might have the vision, ideas and drive to take advantage of the undoubted tourism potential of the far northwest.
It is anticipated that the expressions of interest process will give us further guidance on how we should proceed into the future, together with a suite of new ideas for tourism attractions and new business models for their ownership and operation.
 
 
Back to Branchline

 

Attachments:
No attachments on this page
Links:
No links on this page