15 April 2021
The Spirit of Tasmania ‘Bring your car for free’ campaign will end tonight.
The campaign has been an undeniable success with the allocation provided by the Federal Government Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme (BSPVES) attracting many thousands of visitors to Tasmania.
When launched, the promotion was due to end on 30 June 2021 or when the BSPVES allocation runs out – whichever came first.
Based on booking trends, the allocation will be used by tonight. Spirit of Tasmania will close off bookings at 11.59pm.
As of today, more than 50,300 passenger vehicles have been booked for travel to or from Tasmania between 1 March and 30 June 2021.
Spirit of Tasmania Chief Executive Officer Bernard Dwyer said the critically-timed initiative provided a much needed and welcomed injection of business for the struggling Tasmanian tourism industry after what had been a challenging 12 months.
“At the time the promotion was announced, we were confident that this incentive would bring new visitors to Tasmania,” he said.
“We also know that visitors who arrive by sea with their own vehicle stay longer, spend more and explore more in regional areas of the state than visitors who arrive by air.
“Our feedback from our tourism industry partners is that the promotion has been extremely successful at a time when the industry needed support.”
The promotion was available to passengers who made a new booking for travel to or from Tasmania between 1 March and 30 June 2021.
When passengers made their booking, the cost of their standard vehicle was deducted from the total cost of their trip. For passengers travelling with a standard vehicle, this represented a saving of between $99 and $149 each way.
More than 15,000 passenger vehicles benefited from the scheme in March. Passenger vehicle bookings for April total more than 16,700, 10,300 in May and 8,300 in June.
