14 September 2016

Tourists weathering it in Tasmania

All Tasmanians know that the weather can be fickle in our beloved island state, but how much of a factor is weather for visitors to Tassie?

Tourism Tracer

photo credit: Tourism Australia & Graham Freeman

On a fine day

 

On a rainy day

 

All Tasmanians know that the weather can be fickle in our beloved island state – sunburn a concern one minute, snow on the mountain the next… But how much of a factor is weather for visitors to Tassie? Do different types of travellers respond in different ways to bad weather?

Well, we can reveal some very interesting results.

Overall, visitors to the island state are a pretty hardy bunch! Almost 50% of our travellers stated that the weather did not affect their decision-making while on the go. 32% admitted that they adapted their behaviour to the weather a little, while 15% admitted that the weather affected their plans a moderate amount. Only 4% claimed that weather affected them a lot.

Those travelling in their own cars via the Spirit of Tasmania are much less likely to be put off by unpleasant weather than those renting hire cars, with many more respondents in the former camp firmly stating that they would continue on regardless.

Planners, rather than spontaneous decision-makers, are also much more likely to forge ahead with pre-existing plans rather than be affected by the vagaries of Mother Nature.

Repeat visitors to Tassie obviously know what to expect!: they are much more likely to buckle down and continue on with planned activities despite bad weather as opposed to first-time visitors.

Tourists whose only holiday destination is Tasmania appear more determined to make the most of it, with that group much more likely to continue with pre-arranged activities whatever the weather.

Finally, age is a factor. Those over 60 are more likely to adapt travel plans to the weather, as opposed to their younger counterparts.

Just for fun we picked out two days’ of tourists’ travel patterns from the 2016 summer: one a fine day across the state and the other, a rainy day throughout Tasmania, to see if there are any discernible differences in travel patterns. Take a look at our accompanying visualisations!