Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown of the 2500 weddings in Tasmania in 2018, 5.7 per cent were same-sex - the highest percentage of any state in Australia.

Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the industry was working hard to position the state as a destination of choice both for local couples and interstate visitors looking for an idyllic setting to tie the knot.

"We have calculated that every visitor who comes down to a wedding spends $1500," Mr Martin said.

"Each one of those little events can have a massive impact on small parts of the state."

Mr Martin said he was proud of the Rainbow Tourism initiative that has been developed in Tasmania.

"With the TasPride Festival on this weekend, it's a great time to encourage more Tasmanian tourism and hospitality businesses to be a part of the Rainbow Tourism program, which was designed by the local LGBTIQ community to help local operators and their staff increase awareness of the opportunities and obligations as an inclusive and welcoming destination to all," he said.

Equality Tasmania spokesman Rodney Croome said Tasmania's higher rate of same-sex weddings was an indication of how much Tasmania has changed for the better, and reinforced the state's progress by breaking down lingering prejudices.

"These statistics are a reminder that the more inclusive and open Tasmania becomes, the more prosperous Tasmania becomes," Mr Croome said.

"More and more people are speaking of Tasmania as the Rainbow Isle.

"When I was younger I would go to farewell parties for my gay friends who were heading of to Sydney or Melbourne, London or Los Angeles, but today I find much more often we are hosting parties for friends who are visiting Tasmania, who want to come and live here or who have actually relocated to Tasmania because they find it an inclusive and beautiful place to live."

The long-time equality advocate said he could not imagine anything but a Tasmanian wedding for himself.

"My partner and I are hoping to marry in the not-too-distant future," Mr Croome said.

"We haven't set a date yet but I'm really looking forward to finally being able to tie to knot with the person in the world most important to me [in Tasmania]."

This year's TasPride Festival was launched in Hobart on Friday with the annual rainbow flag raising ceremony at Town Hall.

For more information on the festival, visit TasPride's website.