Hobart Travel Massive Launch – Antarctic Tourism Talks

Last month we headed to Tasmania to launch Hobart Travel Massive and celebrate the winter solstice of the southern hemisphere at Dark Mofo. We also put together a series of talks about Antarctic tourism and the role that Hobart can play as a tourism destination to the southern oceans.

It was freakin’ cold, for Australian standards. There was snow on the nearby mountain, and we had to stand near fire pits at night to drink the locally made Pinot Noir. Ok, it wasn’t that bad now that I’ve just described it!

Standing on the summit of Mount Wellington, which towers over Hobart – Australia’s second oldest city with a population shy of two hundred thousand if you count some nearby farms – you can almost see to the end of the Australian continent.

What would happen if you kept going south?

The answer is under your feet, according to Andrew Jackson who is an Antarctic consultant and former Australian Antarctic Division executive. He very kindly provided a keynote talk to Hobart’s first Travel Massive on the city’s role as a hub for Antarctica. The connection is the 180 million year old rock – called “Dolerite” – that much of Tasmania is made of, and which you can also find in Antarctica and South Africa. What? Did we just put a geology fact on the Travel Massive blog? You bet.

What are Antarctic tourism’s challenges and opportunities for Hobart?

Here’s a bit of what we learned. Antartica remains relatively untouched compared to the millions of visitor arrivals in countries around the world. Only 27,003 people visited the Antarctic continent in the 2014-15 season. But that’s a big market when you consider that trips to Antarctica can cost up to $18,000 USD.

Challenges.

According to Sarah Baxter from Chimu Adventures – who run month-long tours to Antarctica from Hobart – the biggest challenge at the moment are two enourmous iceburgs that are blocking access to Mawson’s Huts and Cape Denison, preventing “East Antarctic” voyages that leave from Hobart. This has resulted in most of the fleet of boats relocating to Argentina for easier access, and therefore tourists heading there instead to depart for their trips.

Opportunities.

These are equally as enormous. According to our very own Bryon Merzeo, more than 17 Antarctic-related institutions are based in Hobart – with a higher concentration of Antarctic scientists based in Hobart than anywhere in the world. More than $118 Million dollars has been committed by the Australian government for Antarctic research and activities including tourism (the Barrier Reef gets $140 Million). The key is promoting Hobart as “the gateway” for departures to Antartica, which seems to have plenty of support from Destination Southern Tasmania. Plans are underway to extend Hobart airport’s runway so it can accommodate larger airplanes such as Boeing 777s, making it possible to skip Melbourne and Sydney entirely on a direct flight to Tasmania.

Learn more on our slideshare.

If you’d like more insight into the presentations at Hobart’s Travel Massive, check the slideshare below for Bryon Merzeo’s introduction and Sarah Baxter’s talk.

You can also check our photos from our Instagram walk in Hobart prior the event on #hobartmassive.

We’d like to thank the following people for making this possible:

To everyone who came along to support our first event.
Melinda Anderson, CEO Destination Southern Tasmania.
Andrew Jackson, Antarctic consultant, former AAD executive who provided the keynote talk.
Sarah Baxter from Chimu Adventure Tours.
Huge thanks to Bryon Merzeo, from Sydney Travel Massive for putting together the event and speakers.
Nina and Andrew from Elan Projects for helping us with the A/V.
Al from the New Sydney Hotel for hosting us.
Also, thanks to our Travel Massive chapter leaders and members who ventured all the way to Tasmania for our most southern event in the world – Sally Scott and Holly Galbraith!