We have been busy analysing our data to work out what factors are associated with tourists’ choice of different itineraries during their time in Tasmania. The locational data falls into eight distinct itineraries that we have called the following: the Big Tour, the West Focus, the South East, the Linear East, the East Loop, the Hobart Focus, the Central with Diversions and the North Focus.
These are some of the notable stories that we are discovering:
- Two age groups, the 18-29s and the 40-49s, are more likely to do the Big Tour than those aged 60 and over
- The Linear East itinerary, where visitors go up and/or down the East Coast from either Hobart or Launceston, is most likely to be started in Hobart and finished in Launceston (51%) than begun in Launceston and completed in Hobart (28%0 or started and finished in Hobart (13%)
- Tourists choosing the North Focus are most likely to come in and out of Launceston Airport (77%) rather than in and out on the Spirit of Tasmania (20%). Indeed, it makes sense that travellers using the Spirit are more likely to make the most of their trip – these visitors make up the majority (52%) of those who undertake the Big Tour as opposed to those who come in and out of Hobart (38%) or Launceston (4%)
Something that we’ve been surprised about is the reasonably frequent ‘open jaw’ style of trip, which is where tourists come in one entry point and depart via a different one. 18% of our tourists chose to do this. Perhaps with the demise of a true return air ticket, tourists will increasingly adopt this flexible approach around entry and exit points on their trips to Tasmania.
Perhaps less surprising is that the longer tourists stay in Tasmania the more likely they are to undertake the Big Tour and the shorter the timeframe the higher the likelihood is that they choose the Hobart Focus or the South East itineraries. See the graph below for average length of stay for our eight Tassie itineraries.
