The state government this week announced details of the major refurbishment, which included new restaurants, bars and deluxe cabins.

Mr Hodgman said the refurbishment was a ‘‘much better way of investing in public funds’’ than replacing the two ageing ships.

‘‘It’s a significant investment, we recognise that,’’ he said.

‘‘The Spirits still have a lot of life left in them but they need to be more attractive and more comfortable.’’

Mr Hodgman said the refurbishment would buy eight more years for the ships.

‘‘We’re quite happy to allow these ships to run out within that time-frame,’’ he said.

Labor finance spokesman Scott Bacon said he wanted the government to implement a plan to replace the vessels.

‘‘What we want to see in the upcoming state budget is provision there to make sure the tourism industry can have confidence those vessels will be replaced when they need to be,’’ Mr Bacon said.

‘‘We’re not saying the money shouldn’t be spent, we haven’t seen all the detail behind why the government has made this decision.’’

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the challenge for the government over the next eight years was to make day sailings more attractive.

‘‘The only way they’re going to grow is to make daytime sailings work, and to do that they certainly need to invest in the daytime service offerings,’’ Mr Martin said.

‘‘If they get that right, that means when they buy the new boats it might mean a very different proposition to what we currently have.’’

February passenger numbers on the Spirit were up 30,000 on the previous year, with day sailings up almost 20 per cent.