The world-first Sense-T Sensing Tourist Travel Project is being led by the University of Tasmania and works to track tourists as they move around the state. 

This data can then be used to show what are the most popular tourist destinations, how long people stay at each attraction, where they stay and why they are travelling. 

Hobart, MONA, Port Arthur, Cradle Mountain and the East Coast proved to be tourism hotspots. 

The trial project tracked the precise movements of 472 visitors to Tasmania between January and May this year. 

Visitors who were taking part in the study were given smartphones to record their movements with a purpose-built app.

They were also able to register information about themselves and the reasons for their travel within Tasmania, such as for wilderness, food or cultural experiences.

The study is believed to be the largest of its kind ever conducted and is set to continue and evolve into the future.

Already, it has received national attention. 

The university’s Tourism Research and Education Network director Anne Hardy and Institute for the Study of Social Change director Richard Eccleston were leaders in the project. 

Professor Eccleston said already the data had identified areas where there were accommodation shortages and infrastructure needs.

“We’ve really just started a detailed analysis but you can drill right down to a sample group,” he said.

Some of the more specific things the project was able to find was that of the 70 people who visited the Wineglass Bay lookout, the average time spent there was 13 minutes.

It was also found that Chinese visitors spent 30 minutes less at Port Arthur than English-speaking visitors. 

“This is really unlimited in its potential and it’s not surprising that the project is taking off more than any of us imagined,” Professor Ecclestone said. 

“We’ve now got this really rich data that can show broad travel patterns but also can show us things down to incredible detail.” 

The tourism sector has shown interest in the project.