An event of this magnitude is exciting for the hospitality industry and reminded Mr Astell of the Restaurant Australia gala dinner at MONA in 2014.

“We did a lot of work supporting MONA for the event and we rallied around our members throughout the state and called for skilled staff, as in food service and wait service, to help produce that event,” he said. “We were able to get some staff to come down on a one-off to support the event and that’s the type of support we can give.”

Australian tourism’s premier event will see about 800 influential visitors travel to Launceston, extra numbers during peak season that both Mr Astell and Tourism Minister Will Hodgman believe can be handled.

“It is a good problem to have and it would not be the worst thing in the world if Launceston is bursting at the seams and people have the spread out to other parts of Tasmania to stay while they are here,” Mr Hodgman said.

“We are seeing more hotel accommodation across the state, including in the North, and as a government we have embraced the sharing economy so there are options for people who might want to stay in an Airbnb for example.”

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Mr Astell said the THA was dedicated to supporting more people’s involvement in the industry on a full-time basis to help boost tourism and hospitality capacity across the state.

“We have got a workforce development department within the THA and they are working tirelessly full-time or going out to schools and trying to encourage people to look at the industry as a career and not only as a filler while they are at uni,” he said.

“We are very supportive of school-based apprenticeships and we are doing some work in that space and hopefully encouraging some people to test whether they like our industry and also they can still continue on with their education and get some experience.” 

Mr Hodgman said the state government would continue to offer paths into the industry for people of all ages to meet demand.

“We have got an industry development plan that we have recently released, a very sharp focus on investing into hospitality sector and our tourism industry and we are providing support for Tasmanian businesses who employ apprentices and trainees.”