Warin wrote:wander wrote:the Asian Tourist invasion
Most of those are on buses. They don't walk far. And they don't stay long, one photo each and that is about it.
i was in Taiwan a few years ago, an island the size of Tasmania with a population the size of Australia. Taiwan has similarities to Tassy, a high degree of natural beauty, mountains, beaches etc.
It gets 4 million mainland Chinese visitors per year. 4 million.
Now taiwan is very close to mainland china but it is quite feasible that some of the increasingly mobile and cashed up middle class Chinese tourists will decide Tasmania is the new destination de jour.
When i say 'some' have a think about what 'some' means in a country of 1400 000 000 people. This could well be facilitated by the occasional travel bans placed on Taiwan by mainland China in an effort to harm Taiwan's economy.
When I was in Taiwan some of the hiking trails were congested with mainland Chinese tourists. Bus after bus after bus depositing people to the trail heads.
Some of these tourists will venture further afield and I envisage freycinet and cradle mountain will see tourist-shock in the next few years.
Not trying to be alarmist, nor do I dislike the Chinese, but it would be naive, in my opinion, to think that Tasmania is safe from excess tourism.
There are 1 340 000 millionaires (that is not a typo) in China and a burgeoning middle class. How many helicopters is this flying into the Walls of Jerusalem?