Now that Spirit of Tasmania has announced it will operate a regular passenger and passenger vehicle service between New South Wales and Tasmania, those opportunities have been significantly enhanced.

National Manager Passenger Sales and Marketing Melindy Green said the decision to operate the vessel was made after extensive research revealed a New South Wales � Tasmania service was regarded as �overwhelmingly appealing�.

�The research found that such a service would result in an additional 51,000 holiday visitors to Tasmania annually,� she said.

�The research also identified that once a new service commenced, it had the potential to trigger further growth up to and possibly more than 71,000 holiday visitors to Tasmania annually.

�This trigger effect occurred when Spirit of Tasmania I and II were introduced on Bass Strait.�

�Accessibility from NSW to Tasmania was seen as a major barrier. The fact that people could not take their own car combined with the driving distance between Sydney and Melbourne was regarded as a disincentive.�

Ms Green said the Sydney to Devonport journey would take the new Spirit of Tasmania III approximately 20 � hours to complete.

The vessel will depart Sydney on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays and Devonport on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 3pm, arriving at 11.30am the following day.

Spirit of Tasmania III, the Attica Enterprise-owned Superfast II and sister ship to Spirit of Tasmania I and II, was constructed in Germany in 1995.

The vessel, 173.7 metres long and capable of speeds of 26 knots, can transport up to 1,400 passengers and features 2,135 lane metres for the transportation of passenger vehicles and freight.

The vessel currently operates a passenger, passenger vehicle and freight service between Patras and Igoumenitsa in Greece and Bari in Italy.

As is the case with Spirit of Tasmania I and II, the new Spirit will offer a variety of accommodation options, including two, three and four berth cabins and hostel accommodation for the budget conscious traveller.

Ship facilities will include a restaurant, bars (internal and external) and coffee shop, Tasmania Information Kiosk, poker machine room, children�s playroom, reading / games room.

Adult fares, which include dinner and brunch, for a three and four berth inside cabin will start at $400 per person in the shoulder season (15 January 2004 � 26 April 2004) and $360 during the off-peak season (27 April 2004 � 30 June 2004).

Pensioner fares for the same cabin will be $300 per person and $270 per person while children fares will be $204 per person and $184 per person respectively.

Peak season fares for a three and four-berth inside cabin will start at $475 per person.

Standard cars will travel for free 45 weeks of the year.

The vessel is expected to arrive in Australia in early October and commence service on 15 January 2004.