Simon Currant

Simon Currant, AM is a highly successful developer and operator with thirty-four years of tourism development and operational experience.
Currant has served as Chairman of the Tourism Council of Tasmania and a Director of TT-Line Pty. Ltd.
Simon was instrumental in the evolution and development of Australia’s Wine Tourism industry. He was responsible for developing several large vineyards and wineries. In the Hunter Valley, driven by company needs for diversification, he introduced winery tourism experiences. Within three years his developments, including accommodation, retail, restaurants and entertainment, were handling over 300,000 visitors per year.
He was given the opportunity to carry this experience through to his time as General Manager of Australia’s then biggest tourism development, Hamilton Island in Far North Queensland
Whilst touring in Tasmania, he saw the potential of the state’s west coast and mountains. His subsequent developments at Cradle Mountain and Strahan (Cradle Mountain Lodge, Franklin Manor and Strahan Village started the delivery of the Tasmanian Brand.
Simon was the pioneer at Cradle Mountain. His development of Cradle Mountain Lodge, now internationally acclaimed as sympathetic and sensitive wilderness infrastructure, gives hundreds of thousands of visitors the opportunity to be exposed to the wonders of this National Park and World Heritage Area.
At Strahan, he purchased, re-opened and enlarged The Franklin Manor, a boutique 5 star hotel. He then implemented his concept to acquire and develop almost the entire main street of the village of Strahan and the Gordon River Cruise business. Thanks to Simon’s dedicated marketing approach, Strahan, on Tasmania’s rugged west coast, became the newest icon destination in Tasmania.
Simon had long seen the potential of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel south of Hobart. In this stunning waterfront location he built the award winning destination cruise, food, wine and retail business of Peppermint Bay.
At the same time in Hobart, he established Hobart Cruises at Brooke St Pier, carrying thousands of passengers from Hobart through the D’Entrecasteaux Channel to Peppermint Bay, Bruny Island and beyond in a completely new Tasmanian experience offering. He later added two new adventure vessels to the Hobart Cruises fleet, expanding into adventure wildlife tours.
Simon won the rights to develop the Pumphouse Point site at Lake St Clair in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in the state’s central highlands. This ground breaking development sees the adaptive re-use of heritage buildings actually located 250 metres out in the lake to create a wilderness lodge where the cornerstone is the delivery of exceptional visitor experiences.
Simon’s developments have between them won 12 state and 9 national tourism awards for excellence in the areas of accommodation, training, food and beverage, and marine tours and transport.
He was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001, Tasmanian of the Year in 2004 and appointed an honorary Member of the Order of Australia in 2006.