20 Oct 2022
New York, Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Tasmania welcomes Tourism Australia's new global brand ambassador Ruby the Roo, and invites travelers to “Come and Say G'day” and meet her Tassie native wildlife friends. The campaign with Ruby, a souvenir kangaroo brought to life with CGI, launched in New York (on Wednesday, October 19), with special guests including actor Rose Byrne who is the voice of Ruby.
Tasmania has five species of macropods - kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons, and the lesser-known bettongs and potoroos. Tassie is also home to some unique animals that exist nowhere else on Earth including a sub-species of the common wombat, the Eastern quoll, 12 species of endemic birds and the famous Tasmanian devil, the world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial.
This time of year the cute and cuddly factor is dialed up a notch in Tasmania as spring babies become more adventurous, exploring beyond the pouch. Many animals are nocturnal and elusive, but a walk at dawn or dusk will often reward patient observers. Or visit a wildlife sanctuary for tours and up close encounters with wallabies, pademelons, wombats, quolls, platypus, echidna and Tasmanian devils. Take a wildlife cruise to see seals, dolphins, wedge-tail eagles and whales.
There's something for everyone in Tasmania, whether your taste is wildlife and nature, adventure, culinary, wellness and culture.
Tasmania re-opened to international travelers (as of February 2021), and is ready to welcome visitors with new routes - Air New Zealand direct service from New York via Auckland to Hobart and services with American, United, Delta and Air Canada to Australia.
Here are some of the exciting experiences now on offer in beautiful, remote and pristine Tasmania.
Summer Festival and Events
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Australia's iconic ocean yacht race, and one of the world's toughest ocean competitions, surges home in late December (December 26 to January 1) at Sullivans Cove, in Hobart. Intrepid sailors race a grueling 628 miles from Sydney Harbor, down the south-east coast of mainland Australia, across Bass Strait, then down the east coast of Tasmania to Hobart. The capital city's waterfront is a prime position for watching the yachts cross the finish line. Join spectators as they gather on the banks of the River Derwent to give a Tassie welcome to competitors, and get a close look at the impressive racing vessels.
Celebrations continue with New Year's Eve festivities. The waterfront is the perfect place to take a stroll and check out the Hobart Race Village, with its eateries and bars and the Taste of Summer festival (December 27 - January 2) a week-long food and wine festival crammed with entertainment including New Year's fireworks. Hobart's waterfront continues to be the scene for celebrations in the new year with the maritime celebration at the Wooden Boat Festival ( February 10-13, 2023).
MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art kicks off Mona Foma (February 17-19 in Launceston and Hobart, February 24-26, 2023) coincides with World Pride in Sydney (February 17 to March 5)
and with an exciting line-up of international performers, incredible art and food. MONA museum has been revamped, with new galleries and will soon open a new wing.
Recharge and Reconnect in Tasmania
Easy access to wild places make Tasmania an ideal place to unplug, recharge and reconnect. For those who want to immerse in Tasmania's World Heritage protected wilderness, there are new wellness walks and retreats. Walk into Luxury at Pumphouse Point is a four-day guided walk that takes in the best walking in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and Mount Field. Visitors can slow down, and reconnect with yoga, art, writing and photography retreats offered by the Tasmanian Walking Company at its celebrated remote lodges.
Sleep on top of the southern hemisphere's deepest lake at Australia's most iconic wilderness experiences, Pumphouse Point, known for its unique architecture and dramatic landscape.
Satellite Island has some new additions including a hot mineral sea bath on the clifftop filled with sea water that is soft and rejuvenating, as well as a clifftop yoga deck, fire pit and entertainment deck overlooking the sea.
At the new Devil's Lair Cabin, visitors can raise a dram to Australia's southernmost whisky distiller, on-site at McHenry Distillery. Better still, enjoy a dram and an evening of dark sky stargazing from the distillery's new observatory, inside a converted barley silo. Visitors may even witness the elusive and ethereal light show of the Southern Lights. The one-bedroom Devil's Lair sits on a hilltop surrounded by forest and close to Tasman Peninsula highlights: Port Arthur Historic Site, the Three Capes Track, and plenty of beaches.
For those who want to explore Tasmania's incredible vineyards, there are two new bespoke tours on offer. Eat the Wild's Beyond the Cellar Door takes travelers into the Coal River Valley Wine Region, with a degustation food experience. Tasmanian Air Tours' allows visitors to see Tasmania from the sky and indulge in the state's finest wine and tipples and feast on an exquisite lunch sourced from fresh seasonal produce.
For adventurers, a new nature and wildlife tour
Southern Sea Ventures' Tasman Peninsula Sea Kayak & Whale Watch Escape with resident biologist Gary Miller, is a three-night adventure, paddling out to otherwise inaccessible coastlines and outlying islands.
Foodies can savour Tassie's fresh produce at the just opened Peppina, at The Tasman, a Luxury Collection hotel in Hobart, or at Van Bone, which lives by a simple ethos of minimal intervention and incredible seasonal produce. Head chef Timothy Hardy serves a set menu of up to 14 courses, locally sourcing ingredients from small-scale organic farms nearby, onsite orchards and evergreen vegetable gardens. Each dish is kissed by fire in the feature wood-fire oven.
Tasmania's indigenous tourism offerings have been recognized as among the best in Australia including these recently launched experiences. Guestes can participate in a small group guided walk around piyura kitina – Risdon Cove. Palawa kipli and takara nipaluna are partnering to offer a bush foods walk around this special Aboriginal land to enable participants to understand the history of the area and learn about the native bush foods currently in season on the property.
Tasmania is holding its arms open to welcome visitors back, and has earned some top accolades:
- Virtuoso named Tasmania in the Top Ten Global Destinations in 2022
- UNESCO named Launceston, as a City Of Gastronomy
- Conde Nast Traveller – Top Places to Visit
- Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards – Top Islands in the World; Best Hotel in Australia – The Tasman and Best Resorts in Australasia, Kittawa Lodge
- Travel + Leisure - Best New Hotels in the World – 2022 – The Tasman
- Lonely Planet – The Best Hikes in the World
- Outside Magazine – Best Hikes in the World
- AFAR magazine – Best Places to go in 2022
For more information contact:
Julie Earle-Levine in New York
PR Manager, Tourism Tasmania
Images
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7mgnohtxi3bw852/AABckmCgJjLHFWAEbuIMaoJUa?dl=0
For a full and up-to-date listing of Tasmanian itineraries, and information on travelling to Tasmania, visit the Discover Tasmania website www.discovertasmania.com.au.
Background Notes
Tourism Tasmania is the Tasmanian Government's tourism marketing agency. Its main purpose is to connect people to Tasmania through domestic and international marketing programs that create demand for Tasmanian holidays and attract more visitors to the state.
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