Agritourism has been identified by the Tasmania Government as a growing industry that Tasmania holds a competitive advantage in, but one that is yet to be fully realised. The Tasmanian Government engaged ERA to lead the Tasmanian Agritourism Regulatory Mapping Project, which mapped the end-to-end regulatory approvals process involved in establishing an agritourism business in Tasmania. This enabled a better understanding of the barriers to enter the industry and identified opportunities to streamline approvals and reduce complexity for producers and entrepreneurs, especially small owner-operator businesses balancing a tourism offering with the underlying primary industry.

Ten business types were identified that represented the diversity of Tasmania’s agritourism industry. These businesses were engaged along with local councils and regulatory bodies regarding their experiences, either navigating or administering permits and approvals. Ten detailed case studies of an existing agritourism business, one from each business type, were then developed to capture the real end-to-end permits and approvals process.

Regulatory areas covered included planning, building, environmental health and safety, food and liquor licensing, traffic and road assets, power and water, and environment and heritage.

Following analysis of the engagement, a set of recommendations was made that would help improve operational aspects of the existing regulatory framework.