Will Hodgman,Premier and Minister for Parks
Tasmania's unrivalled natural environment is a major drawcard for visitors from around Australian and the world.
Our tourism industry is one of our State's great success stories and the Tasmanian Government welcomes the news that an exciting new accommodation option has been approved to proceed to lease and licence negotiations.
This stage one approval lays the path for World Expeditions to undertake a Reserve Activity Assessment and seek approval through the normal Commonwealth Government and State Government planning approval processes.
As part of the Coordinator General's Expressions of Interest process, World Expeditions plans to build five semi-permanent puffer pods along the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park Overland Track and one semi-permanent pod along the Walls of Jerusalem track at Wild Dog Creek.
The puffer pods are specially designed, communal cold weather tents made from state of art down inner fabric, providing comfort for trekkers and will be located alongside existing public campsites. The canvas covered pods will be architecturally designed to blend into the surrounding environment, will remain in place throughout the season until the conclusion of the walking season.
The proposals are expected to result in the employment of an additional 15-20 staff.
World Expeditions operates locally as Tasmanian Expeditions and already operates a number of walks including on the Overland Track and Walls of Jerusalem.
Our national parks and reserves are one of the key drivers of growth in our visitor economy, with close to half of our tourists saying they come here to see them.
This is why we developed our innovative EoI initiative for sensible and appropriate tourism developments in our National Parks, Reserves and Crown Land.
A number of high quality ventures are already operating, and there is now around $70 million worth of investment in the pipeline which will generate about 230 more full time jobs if delivered.
