THE bushrangers may have disappeared and the convicts may have moved on, but a drive up the Midland Highway can still be an entertaining experience.
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The Heritage Highway Tourism Region Association launched their Visit with Conviction campaign at last week's annual general meeting in an attempt to attract more visitors to the region and its towns.
World Heritage-listed convict-built sites, rural estates and landmarks are dotted along the Midland Highway, and the campaign highlights the role convicts played in shaping the landscape that surrounds the area.
The campaign will include newly released information for visitors, new maps, a new website and a revamping of the organisation's smart phone app over the next 12 months.
Heritage Highway Tourism Region Association chairman Alex Green said that historic properties such as Woolmers Estate and Brickendon Estate were located just off the main roads, and it was a shame that visitors were missing out on the attractions.
"We really trying to promote the strong convict heritage connections through the Heritage Highway region, and the Northern Midlands is an important part of that," Mr Green said.
"The Midlands has got some absolutely fantastic heritage stories - it's a great setting for fine Tasmanian food, wine and spirit experiences."
The new campaign was an important tool in acknowledging the hard work that convicts put into establishing the region.
"A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into building the Heritage Highway," he said.
"There's some fascinating stories, and some really quite important individuals were here as convicts and political prisoners.
"A lot of people just drive along the road and aren't aware that convicts were stationed in these road stations."
Promotion of the Visit with Conviction campaign has already started in Hobart, and new projects are set to start in the north of the state in the coming year.
"We're already started advertising on buses on Hobart, and we're about to launch a related project looking at the convict probation station sites in the Northern Midlands," Mr Green said.