Since 2016, University of Tasmania associate professer Anne Hardy has been tracking tourists in the state.

What she has noticed is a very obvious increase in visitor numbers to the state. 

Her project, Tourism Tracer, started in 2016. 

It gave participants a mobile phone with three gigabytes of data in exchange for tracking their moves.

"At the end of 2017 we launched a stand alone app on the Google Play store and the iTunes store. So we no longer had to give people mobile phones, we just put a sign out got people to put the app on their phone," she said. 

"That surprised us because it worked. Using the first technique we tracked about 1000 people in 2016 and 2017 and using the standalone app we tracked about another 400 odd people in the beginning of 2018.

Funding for the project ended in May 2018. 

What the data showed was increased visitation to some of the state's icon areas such as Freycinet National Park and Cradle Mountain. 

"We could see crowding in Coles Bay and can see people's reaction to specific events or actual Festivals," she said. 

"Over the last two years visitation has increased. We've got more and more Chinese visitors coming in and more and more people ending up on the East Coast.

"We can see that spill over affect of tourists going to Coles Bay who may not be able to stay directly in Coles Bay, so we see them going to other towns like Bicheno to stay."

Now, the project is looking at whether behaviour changed during the seasons. 

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Tourism Northern Tasmania chief executive Chris Griffin said generally speaking the North had a "strong summer".

"Major events such as Mona Foma, Festivale and Launceston Cup have all generated great visitation during a time when our visitor numbers are traditionally strong," he said.

"The remainder of the summer/autumn season is looking really promising, with events scheduled through until end of May. Added to this is a late Easter break that will merge with ANZAC weekend. This creates a 10-day travel opportunity for many Australians that Tasmania is set to capitalise upon."

About 60 per cent of Tasmania's visitors come to the state between October and March, with the rest during the "cooler season, Mr Griffin said. 

"Over the last 18 months Tourism Northern Tasmania has had in place a plan to attract more events to the region during this time, called the Cool Season Events Strategy," he said.

"For the 2019 cool season we have secured three events in partnership with City of Launceston, Silverdome and the event organisers."

In July we will host Miss Teen Australia as well as the Under 15s AFL Tournament. In August the city will also host the Karate National Championships.

"In total we’re expecting around 3,000 additional visitors to come to the city and enjoy our region as a direct result of hosting these events," Mr Griffin said.

However,  Dr Hardy and the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin the industry had reached a bit of a peak at the moment. 

"Overall visitor growth has slowed down to 1 per cent which is well below long term averages," Mr Martin said.

“I think there needs to be a bit of conversation about language and things like tourism booms now, but by no means is there a decline or the long term projects." 

He said it’s a chance to take a look at how far we've come.

"The next two and three years –  everyone is really confident and excited – particularly in the North and Hobart as well." 

But all three industry professionals agreed there had been a shortening of the "peak" season. 

"By pulling that season out provides a bit more consistency for the operators and their employees," Dr Hardy said. 

However, this growth is not being felt throughout the whole state, they said.

"If you get out of the city, then there is that section that we get right across regional Tasmania which is not bursting as the seems and is really challenging for us as a destination," Mr Martin said. 

“We are dealing with some sites are that tourism greats and questions about appropriate levels of growth and then we have other parts of the stare that are really under developed tourism economies."

Mr Griffin said Tourism Northern Tasmania was working with Launceston Airport to attract more people to North's arrival gates. 

During the past five years, Mr Martin said operators had really enjoyed the growth of our domestic markets. 

“Melbourne and NSW and Queeensland are now looking a the next growth and a lot of that is happening at the next sectors," he said. 

“We’re really starting to formulate some years about the next stage of the industry and how we want it to grow. It’ll be a heavy focus on yield and not volume."

He said the is still a lot to look forward to in the state's near future. 

"We look forward to international flights in the next 12 to 18 months and the new Spirits in the next few years and the Cradle Mountain project which is going to be as big of a stimulus for the North as the new ships," Mr Martin said. 

“There is a lot to look forward to, it’s just a bit of a change in gears."

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