12/02/2026
Our cultural heritage deserves more attention. The river has been at the heart of this community for as long as humans have walked its banks.
Public Statement – Royal Hobart Regatta Association
This morning’s discussion on ABC Radio regarding the Royal Hobart Regatta raised several assertions that warrant clarification.
We thank the listener who raised the question for reflecting a level of genuine public interest in how the Royal Hobart Regatta is supported, understood, and positioned within Tasmania’s broader events landscape.
Neither Events Tas or Leon Compton ABC Hobart has ever approached the Royal Hobart Regatta Association to discuss visitation data, interstate enquiries, growth potential, or the broader socio-economic and community impacts of the Regatta. Assertions about what the Regatta does or does not achieve have therefore been made without reference to evidence, consultation, or engagement with those who plan and deliver the event.
We note with interest that other events are able to “quote” interstate visitation figures without publicly available methodology or verification, while the Regatta is confidently characterised as a purely local event. This is despite participation from across Australia, visiting competitors and officials, dignitaries, and ongoing interstate enquiry associated with the Regatta and its programme.
The Royal Hobart Regatta is delivered entirely by volunteers, with an average age of its organisers sitting at 30 years old. It is Tasmania’s oldest sporting event and one of the longest continuously run sporting events in the country. It is deliberately free and accessible, provided for the Tasmanian and wider community as a civic and cultural occasion rather than a ticketed festival. That accessibility is not a weakness, it is a defining characteristic of public benefit.
We are concerned about the impact that untested assumptions and long-standing perceptions can have on events such as the Regatta. When an event is characterised as “local” or “non-growth” without engagement or evidence, it shapes decisions around promotion, funding, and scheduling. Over time, those decisions make it harder, not easier, for the event to grow, to reach new audiences, and to return value to the community. In effect, assumptions risk becoming self-fulfilling outcomes.
The Royal Hobart Regatta is not incidental to the public holiday rather, it is the reason the Royal Hobart Regatta Long Weekend exists. How that weekend is framed, programmed, and discussed matters. When the Regatta is treated as one option among many rather than the anchor event it was created to be, the risk is not only to the Regatta itself, but to the shared civic meaning of the long weekend for Tasmanians.
We also note an apparent inconsistency between publicly stated funding eligibility criteria and actual funding outcomes. The Events Tasmania website indicates that funding applies to eligible events held between March and November, yet a review of successful recipients shows a substantial number of funded events occurring outside this period. For volunteer-run organisations planning years in advance, clarity and consistency in funding frameworks are essential. When published criteria and practical application diverge, it becomes difficult to understand how events are expected to position themselves or plan sustainably.
Further, we observe that major funding decisions are often justified through headline visitation figures that are not accompanied by transparent definitions or publicly available methodology. Claims that individual events “attract” tens of thousands of people to the state must be understood in the context of Tasmania’s finite accommodation, aviation, and Bass Strait capacity.
Even assuming full hotel occupancy and maximum transport utilisation across the event period, the physical capacity simply does not exist to support such figures as unique interstate visitors staying in Tasmania. In the absence of clear definitions, there is a material risk that cumulative attendances and local repeat visitation are being represented as interstate tourism, a distinction that is critical when events are compared or prioritised for funding.
If the position is that free, community-led events merit less support because they do not charge admission or align neatly with a single tourism metric, that is a policy choice worthy of open and transparent discussion.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with Events Tasmania and Leon Compton to share actual data, discuss growth opportunities, and explore how Tasmania’s flagship heritage events can be supported to reach their full potential, rather than being characterised without consultation.
Our 188 year old door remains always open.
