City of Hobart proposes fee increases to protect future of Salamanca Market tourist attraction

The City of Hobart is proposing a site fee increase to protect the future of one of Tasmania’s popular tourist attractions - the Salamanca Market.

Casual stallholders are an important part of the market. This type of opportunity suits many of local artists, producers and artisans as it allows them to trade at the market when it suits them, without being locked into regular Saturday trading.

Salamanca Market remains Tasmania’s most visited tourist attraction, regularly surging past the 20,000 attendance mark each Saturday.

The Market has built its reputation on the ethos of locally-made and sourced, high quality and unique products - something for everyone.  Salamanca Market attracts a loyal local customer base and boasts high visitation by overseas, interstate and regional visitors seeking an authentic Tasmanian experience.

The Hobart City Council, which has a proud history supporting Salamanca, taking it from a handful of stalls in 1972 to more than 300 businesses plying their trade each Saturday, has endorsed a recommendation for a 30-day consultation with all stallholders and the Salamanca Market Stallholders’ Association as part of a proposed new licence agreement to sustain it into the future.

This proposal would result in an average market site fee increase of $9.58 (excluding GST) per market day, with most stalls increasing by $8.76 (excluding GST) per market day for each year of the agreement.

CPI increases will not be applied until mid 2024.

Depending on the location of the market stall, the biggest site fee increase will be $12.64 per day, with the smallest $6.77 (excluding GST).

Importantly, the site fees will be re-invested back into the market to support stallholders and ensure Salamanca retains its unique vibe and its status as Tasmania’s most popular tourist attraction.

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds encouraged all stallholders to submit feedback during the consultation period and advised “this is the start of a process rather than the end of one.

“We've asked the staff to review the cost of the management, promotion and operation of the market and look for any savings.

“So we are listening to the stallholders concerns about whether we're running the market as efficiently as we could and should be.

“That information will come back to councillors before we make a final decision on the licence agreement.”

The consultation period with stallholders commences closes on 26th April 2023.

All submissions received by the City will be presented to elected members for consideration at the 22nd May council meeting.

Salamanca Market Stallholder Information pack 2022 gives an indicative weekly casual stallholder fee of $87.90 (inc. GST). 

Image: Truffles of Tasmania at Salamanca Market