An inquiry last year into the intended works heard the current visitor centre was initially to be a temporary facility, had seen little development since its construction, and was unable to cope with visitor demand.

The need for a new centre was recommended in a development plan for the tourist site, produced 15 years ago.

The Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service said if visitation trends continued, figures would reach 220,000 visitors by 2020 or 260,000 with new visitor facilities.

“The current facilities are not adequate to meet visitor demand at peak times and notes that visitor numbers are expected to continue to grow which will place further strain on the current facilities," the committee’s report on the project said.

“In actuality, the visitor numbers have already considerably exceeded both these expectations with approximately 252,000 visitors to Cradle Mountain recorded in the year to March 2017.”

The precinct is planned to be developed as an alpine-style village with a visitor service centre, food and beverage facilities, a retail outlet, a community gathering space and interpretive displays.

It is proposed it will be built up by a mix of public and private investment.

Commercial realtors Colliers International last month started a worldwide search for private investors for the development, on behalf of the state government.

The state government has allocated $21.8 million over budget forward estimates for the work, including $5.75 million for the Dove Lake visitor shelter.

While the committee has approved the staged roll-out of the precinct’s development, it noted that the Parks and Wildlife Service should give consideration to the environmental design of the new buildings.

The project will involve a single story building with a floor area of 420 square metres and a double-story building with a floor area of 410 square metres; both with timber cladding.