Bridestowe Lavender Estate wants to do something similar in the North-East to capitalise on the visitor trade in the region.

Owner Robert Ravens estimated total visitors for the 2018-19 financial year to be about 85,000, but he lamented the fact there was no critical mass of population on the Nabowla farm’s doorstep.

With an “insatiable” demand for its ice cream and lavender products among those 85,000 visitors, Mr Ravens and the Bridestowe team are in a position to push tourism within the region.

“We have become a mecca for ice cream,” Mr Ravens said.

“The biggest challenge is to get people to stay in the area and disperse to other businesses.

“We want to work cooperatively with local businesses to do that,” he said.

This idea works in with North East Tasmania Tourism’s vision to unify the North-East community to make the region a favourite destination for tourists and Tasmanians alike.

“By building the profile of North-East Tasmania, we hope to see intrastate, interstate and international visitors numbers increase, and for visitors to return again and again,” the organisation said.

The volunteer-based organisation comprises industry stakeholders, community members and local government representatives, giving “a voice to on the ground tourism operations and our local community” around policy making, governance and marketing.

Mr Ravens sees collaboration as the key to gaining the critical mass Bridestowe needs to keep growing.

“We are getting creative and building cooperative interfaces with business and government to spread the pool around the North-East,” he said.

Bridestowe Lavendar Estate is open between 9am and 5.30pm – and sometimes later –  to cater for its range of visitors, with Mr Ravens pointing out that Tasmanians tended to visit earlier, while Asian tourists arrived later in the day and stayed for food.

“Part of our success is being open, but staying open is the challenge,” he said.

Bridestowe wants to partner with North-East businesses that offer complimentary products and are open at similar times so staff can be confident in directing people on.

“We have to find kindred spirits. After 12 years in business we’ve learned an awful lot and have applied that.”

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