The state welcomed 267,000 visitors in the year to September 2017, with international visitors contributing $484 million to the economy.

Included in the findings was that 106,000 travellers visited tourism sites in Northern Tasmania. 

These visitors are staying in the region for an average of 11 nights – a 44 per cent increase on 2016.

Tasmania’s growth in overseas visitors was listed as the fastest in the country, with the national average sitting at 28 per cent. 

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the results were a great sign for state’s tourism industry.

“We’ve had the greatest growth for any state for international visitors, so we’re actually stealing market share, which is extraordinary considering we don’t have international flights,” he said.

“The fact people choose to come to Tasmania shows how strong our brand is.”

The report highlighted a 40 and 25 per cent increase in Chinese and American tourists respectively.

However, Mr Martin also said it was important to keep all of the results in perspective. 

“We saw a massive spike after the [Chinese President Xi Jingping] visit, but they’re still relatively low numbers in terms of our overall percentage of visitors to the state,” he said.

“The [international tourist] numbers are off a small base, but when you see that kind of growth pattern it is certainly reassuring.”

Tasmanian Liberal Senator David Bushby said the results were a boon for the federal and state Liberal governments.

“These fantastic survey results highlight the significant role our tourism industry plays in our economy,” he said.

“Encouragingly, the continued growth in both the number of tourists visiting and importantly, the amount of time and money they are spending in our state, is evidence that the current policy settings in Canberra and Hobart are working,” he said.

Tasmanian Labor Senator Helen Polley, however, said the rise was, in fact, due to the previous Labor government. 

“Of course we welcome any improvement in the tourist visitor numbers, however Liberal, at the federal and state level, have failed to fund enough infrastructure investment in tourist projects like Cradle mountain,” she said.

“Much of what we are currently experiencing can be attributed to the previous state Labor Government.”