Work on a once-problematic $20 million eco-tourism development near Port Arthur will soon start.
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The development, by Baillie Lodges, has been 13 years in the making and is expected to be completed by 2020.
Company director James Baillie first received an image of the Crescent Bay block in 2004 at a time when he said the state’s tourism market, and luxury lodge market, were remarkably different.
The upcoming development will be the company’s fourth lodge and promoted to overseas markets in a network for high-end travellers.
The project in the past attracted criticisms and environmental concerns.
But Mr Baillie said the project was now fully approved and he hoped to prove naysayers wrong by building a sensitive development.
The 20-suite boutique accommodation facility is expected to employ 32 people on the Tasman Peninsula.
It will include a restaurant and bar, expansive terrace, spa, and an indoor-outdoor swimming pool.
The site is close to Basket Bay, Remarkable Cave and the Port Arthur historic site.
Mr Baillie said the lodge would create a truly Tasmanian experience.
“We see a fabulous opportunity to harness Tasmania’s already thriving food and beverage offering including fine wines, island beers, small-batch whiskies and gins, as well as fabulous produce including cheeses, oysters, seafood and beef,” he said.
Tourism Minister Will Hodgman said the Tasmanian Government had supported the project through $1 million to be spend on associated public infrastructure.
The news comes at the same time new visitor statistics show that 1.28 million visited Tasmania over 12 months until last September, spending $2.3 billion – a 11-per-cent rise on the same period before.
Visitation also grew in each region with the south seeing a 7-per-cent growth, the North 11 per cent, the East Coast 10 per cent and Cradle Coast region 3 per cent.
The state’s largest visitor markets grew as well with China up 40 per cent.
This was followed by Hong Kong (33 per cent) and the United States (25 per cent).
International visitation overall grew by 17 per cent.
Tourism Tasmania chief executive John Fitzgerald said this growth rate was 10 per cent above the national average and highest of all the states.
He said with total leisure visitors at 982,300 now, the state would pass the one-million mark next year.
“They are high value visitors who are more likely to stay longer, spend more and explore our regions,” Mr Fitzgerald said