On any given day Bridestowe is a hive of activity – and it’s not just because of the bumblebees that buzz their way across each fragrant bloom.

Tucked away on a back road on the way to Nabowla sits the largest commercial scale lavender farm in Tasmania.

Picturesque rows of lavender make the perfect backdrop for photo shoots and visitors can have a sneak peek into the distilling process the farm uses for its famous lavender oil.

Robert Ravens and his family took over ownership of the farm in 2007 and in 10 years they have seen exponential growth in local and international tourists.

Typical visitor numbers are sky high, with peak times in January and February hitting 25,000 a month.

Mr Ravens said when they first started they would have seen about 7000 visitors in January.

On a weekday, the farm is filled with tourists, with seven bus loads, including international visitors, who all come for the farm.

“They are breathtaking numbers. We believe yesterday we had 800 visitors but 230 were non-paying,” Mr Ravens said.

Non-paying customers are reserved for “Friends of Bridestowe” members or Tasmanian residents.

“So from those numbers we are getting 20-30 per cent from Tasmania, which is staggering for this farm,” Mr Ravens said.

Rewind to 2007 and the farm had a different story to tell, prior to the Ravens taking it on board.

"The company that owned it at the time they were trying to turn it around but they didn’t get it, it didn’t fit their model, they didn’t understand tourism.”

Mr Ravens said he and his family bought the property on a whim because he had loved the original history of the property and he “always wanted a large cool-climate garden.”

“We wanted a private space that we could enjoy but then we started realising what a black hole it was for funding. We thought how on Earth could we make money from this property.”

Mr Ravens said he would never describe himself as a farmer and that he didn’t know anything about lavender prior to buying Bridestowe.

While the farm had been open for tourists since it had been established, the numbers were not there.

“The things you could do with lavender seemed endless; there were a lot of different directions and we chose to do them all,” he said.

So, to the Ravens, tourism was “bleeding obvious” so they set out about finding reasons tourists would want to visit the farm.

The farm is internationally renowned, especially among Asian countries and Mr Ravens contributes that international fame due to social media.

“We didn’t set out to become a tourist Mecca,” he said.

He said ensuring the farm was popular was simple – “Whenever they asked, we delivered.”

“Soon we were getting rave responses in international press and then suddenly people were coming here.”

The farm also developed key products to help lure both national and international guests.

“We believe we gave them things that were different, we created interest and we did interesting things,” Mr Ravens said.

The creation of purple lavender ice cream took off particularly in Taiwan and Hong Kong and soon the visitors were pouring in just to experience those things.

“They didn’t know we had the farm, they knew we had the ice cream but when they got here they were wowed by the farm.”

Undoubtedly, the most successful product created by Bridestowe Lavender Farm is Bobby.

The purple, teddy-bear-shaped heat pack has become a star of the business in his own right.

Mr Ravens said while he believed in the bear from the start, there were some things about Bobby meteoric rise that did surprise him.

Bobby was first sold at Bridestowe in 2008 but it wasn’t until 2011 when the bear really came into his own, as a character and product.

Mr Ravens can narrow it down to a few key events.

Firstly, an Iron Chef from Hong Kong visited Bridestowe and was photographed with Bobby on his head and the second boom came after a Chinese starlet made some racy comments about the bear.

“She said Bobby was more fun in bed on a cold Shanghai night than her boyfriend who was a famous film star in China.”

Mr Ravens said Bobby was marketed to young Asian women and he had been an amazing success.

“All we could see was two things – women loved it and they treated him like a newborn baby.”

He said an unexpected outcome was Bobby also became popular with children.

The momentum of Tasmanian visitors is one way Bridestowe is diversifying its income stream, Mr Ravens said he didn’t want to rely too much on tourism.

He said tourism had become “too important” in Tasmania and it was important businesses made sure they weren’t relying on one thing.

“Tourism is very fickle, it could dry up tomorrow.”

“We have to enjoy tourism while it is there but we have to be bigger than that as an economy.”

Never one to sit on his laurels, Mr Ravens has already begun planning the next phase of Bridestowe’s evolution.

In May last year, the Ravens announced internationally renowned architect Paul Ma has been engaged to oversee a potential $10 million development at the farm.

A proposal to build a luxury hotel, boasting 50 units, on property adjoining Bridestowe Lavender Farm is well under way.

The joint venture is between the estate’s owner, Robert Ravens, and Australia Travel and Culture Group, based in Sydney.

“They came to us and they said they were investing heavily in to Tasmania and they wanted to create a high-end tourism experience for Chinese visitors,” Mr Ravens said at the time.

The Chinese-owned company plan to have a lavender theme throughout the accommodation.

Mr Ravens said having accommodation close to the estate had always been on his agenda.

“We are continually reminded by our guests that there was no accommodation close to the farm of any quality, that is excluding Scottsdale, but most Chinese visitors regard that as too far away from our farm,” he said.  

For more information on Bridestowe follow on Facebook or go to their website.