However, the figurative rolling up of the drawbridge connecting Tasmania to the mainland has contributed to the decimation of the tourism industry, as the pandemic unfolded.

Tasmania's strong economic position before the pandemic was primarily the result of the tourist economy, which obliterated once the pandemic took hold.

Cutting Tasmania off from the rest of the mainland has served a great purpose, in halting the spread of the virus from other states struggling with outbreaks of their own.

But, it has also meant that we are isolated from the many interstate visitors, tourists and ex-pats, along with the influx of fly-in, fly-out workers, that help keep the economy ticking forward, which is what we need.

Sunday is World Tourism Day, and the federal government used the day to announce its regional tourism package.

The $250 million investment, aimed at supporting tourism and infrastructure projects in regional Australia, will support Tasmania. The state will receive about $13.5 million of the $50 million in the government's Regional Tourism Recovery Fund, to be announced in the upcoming federal budget. Austrade data formed the basis of the funding allocation, which found Tasmania's tourism sector was suffering disproportionately compared with other states and territories. While the funding allocation is welcome, it's clear that the tourism industry is going to take time to recover, and work is needed to encourage job-seekers and school leavers to consider the industry as a stable career pathway. One way the tourism industry in Tasmania will recover will be to open the borders, that step is critical, but it needs to be taken at the right time.

With other states starting to have those discussions, the tourism industry in Tasmania, and others, are chomping at the bit to see normality return to the state before the state government's December deadline. These decisions are difficult ones, but one thing is evident in the absence of a vaccine, we must make the tough choices to find a way to live with COVID-19.