Tasmania's fate on whether or not it will be granted the AFL's 20th licence for a team of its own may be decided in August, but the decision won't be a full stop on the state's sport tourism journey.
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That was the take home message from AFL Taskforce member James Henderson, who addressed a crowd of more than 60 tourism and business delegates at a luncheon on Thursday.
Mr Henderson, who was a keynote speaker at the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania's annual Tasmanian Tourism Investment Business Luncheon, said the time was ripe for the AFL to grant Tasmania a team of its own.
"It [the decision] is a turning point for the AFL. This state has proven to be a serious player in bidding for national sport competition and Tasmania has an appetite to invest in big sport events," Mr Henderson said.
The legacy of outgoing Premier Peter Gutwein was also acknowledged at the luncheon, with Mr Henderson describing Mr Gutwein as "a phenomenal leader" who had championed the AFL cause.
"Peter Gutwein got us here, but now we are at the pointy end, and we have the responsibility to maintain the momentum and get us across the finish line," he said. Mr Henderson said he and the taskforce had met with Mr Gutwein only yesterday to discuss the bid, and said he admired the way Mr Gutwein had taken the AFL to task over the matter.
"He really stood up to [Gil] McLachlan, at a time when the AFL wanted to kick it down the road," he said.
Mr Henderson said the journey towards Tasmania getting its own AFL team was not the result of one person, but a concerted effort from among politicians, the taskforce and community members who had gone above and beyond to make sure the business case stood up and was watertight.
Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the lunch was about establishing key priorities, such as the Tasmanian AFL team, stadium upgrades and business meeting infrastructure, as important tourism projects ahead of the federal election in May.
The lunch was attended by Bass Labor candidate Ross Hart. Incumbent Bass MHR Bridget Archer did not attend. State government representatives included Nick Duigan, Lara Alexander, Janie Finlay and Rosemary Armitage.
Mr Martin also acknowledged the contribution of Mr Gutwein, who also held the Tourism portfolio. He said while he understood the tourism industry had experienced upheaval during the pandemic, he believed the outgoing premier had been a champion for tourism in Tasmania.
"This event began as a positive event to bring together the tourism and property industries, but this one will be to shine a spotlight on the visitor economies and the opportunities ahead of the federal election," Mr Martin said.
The redevelopment of UTAS Stadium and the proposed stadium at Macquarie Point in Hobart were examples of infrastructure that would not only support an AFL team, but also support the bounce-back of the visitor economy post-pandemic, Mr Henderson said.
"All three regions in Tasmania can have a role to play in supporting an AFL team," he said.
"We are talking about six teams here [womens, mens, VFL etc] and all will need high-performance training facilities, that can't be centralised to one place."
However, he said having the stadium infrastructure would help to activate the whole area, even when games are not played.
"What we need to focus on now, is how to activate and market the area for the days that games are not played, and that's something we need to work on now."
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