The refund is available for all cancellations regardless of travel date or fare type, a spokesperson for TT-Line said.

The Spirits will continue to sail as scheduled until given advice to the contrary by the Department of Health.

Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Northern Tasmania

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said on the whole Tasmanian tourism operators and accommodation providers were doing the right thing and paying out refunds or giving credit for future bookings to customers.

"This is why it's such a severe economic blow because a lot of these businesses have no revenue and they are paying out [refunds]," Mr Martin said.

"Online travel agents are making decisions that are slightly contradictory. We are going to see mixed messages and a mix of policy approaches."

Mr Martin said a lot of the impact on tourism now was not about cancellations but about future bookings.

"The reality is bookings from the end of this month have dried up to zero," he said.

"The medium term is what we are most concerned about and once we get past the slump I'm sure the market will respond quickly. It's going to bounce back quickly."

But Mr Martin said it was going to get harder before it got easier.

"There wouldn't be a tourism operator in the state that isn't reviewing their future in the short term," Mr Martin said.

"These are really difficult and critical times for everyone involved in our visitor economy.

"It's not just our tourism operators. It's our retailers, it's our hospitality businesses, it's the supply chain right through the state."

Mr Martin urged operators to make sure they gained access to the financial measures made available by the Federal and state governments.

"The next tranche of funding and support for businesses will need to come from the Australian government," he said.

"Their support so far has been directed to larger businesses. Clearly owner-operated businesses, the mum and dad businesses, right across Australia are the ones most vulnerable and they I suspect will need an additional level of support over the coming weeks."