“Beauty Point has been identified as one place where we can invest more and bring more visitors in,” Premier Will Hodgman said on Wednesday.

Potential for establishing Tasmania’s fourth main cruise ship port  at Beauty Point would be investigated.

Cruise ships and passengers would visit more areas of Tasmania under plans being developed by the state government and the industry.

Mr Hodgman said the government would work with cruise operators to increase the number of Tasmanian ports included on cruise line itineraries and look at how to attract more boutique international vessels with  niche tours to get visitors into the regions.

He said the industry had agreed to stop big cruise ships visiting spectacular Wineglass Bay on the East Coast, “in recognition of the impact on the scenic amenity and consequential impact on the visitor experience”.

Smaller vessels with fewer than 100 passengers would be able to  visit at limited times, Mr Hodgman said in Burnie as he discussed results of a regional ports review and a cruise market update.

He said  cruise ship passengers and crew spent $34.5 million with Tasmanian  tourism operators, retailers and the hospitality sector last year.

He said the sector was growing strongly and growth was expected to continue.

“There are significant opportunities to target more expedition vessel and smaller cruise ship visits to Tasmania,” Mr Hodgman said.

“We want to encourage visitors to spend more time in Tasmania before or after their cruise, by encouraging cruise ship operators to make Hobart a start or end point for their itineraries.

“Burnie, Hobart and Port Arthur are able to accommodate further growth in large cruise ship visits, and we will ensure visits are spread across the season and additional shore-based activities are developed to further disperse people.”

He said policy development in coming months would guide infrastructure investment to continue growth in the sector.