THE Waterfalls Cafe and Gallery at Mt Field has had a steady trend of repeat local visitors despite Covid disruption to tourism in the Valley in the last 18 months.

Owner Rachel Powers said visitation numbers had been growing every winter.

“This year I would say we are sitting on par, which is encouraging as we don’t have an international market,” she said.

“School holidays have been good but we’ve been noticing a strong local market, friends and relatives coming down from mainland or from within the state.

“Tasmanians seem to be proudly showing off our backyard.”

Typically the cafe was at its busiest in the summer months or directly after a notable snowfall.

Ms Powers noted the visitor numbers were becoming far more consistent across the year.

Ms Powers said she believed Tasmanians had become far more proud of their state over the past 18 months.

“Whether that had been brought about by the lack of interstate travel or the fantastic response to Covid, people are spending their time discovering their home state.

“Seeing more locals up here is a positive outcome, but we aren’t back to normal.

“My heart goes out to accommodation and tour operators, they are still the hardest hit and I really hope when the borders reopen things will begin to pick up – back to what they were before.

(Picture: Waterfalls Cafe & Gallery Facebook)