Federal Government unveils $7.5 million program to attract more tourism workers

The Federal Government is looking to grow Australia's tourism workforce by offering state and territory governments and tourism bodies a share of $7.5 million for programs to attract workers to the visitor economy.

Launched today, the Choose Tourism program is Among a number of measures aimed at helping to address workforce shortages across the tourism industry, the Choose Tourism program will offer grants to enable the states and territories to develop new programs and campaigns, extend existing activities to attract new workers and ensure they have the skills to deliver quality tourism experiences for visitors.

Advising of a commitment to return Australia's visitor economy to pre-COVID expenditure levels of $166 billion by 2024, and grow it to $230 billion by 2030, Federal Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell (pictured below) advised that the Federal Government “is committed to growing our tourism industry, and to achieve that we need to ensure they have the workforce they need.

“Choose Tourism grants will fund a range of activities including jobs expos, mentoring, targeted media campaigns, and specific industry training.”

“Attracting workers to the visitor economy, including young people, older workers, those with disabilities and First Nations people, will give more people the chance to get a job and pursue a career in what is a diverse and dynamic sector.”

The Choose Tourism grants program complements a national campaign being delivered by Austrade to encourage eligible pensioners and other older Australians to take advantage of the temporary change to the Work Bonus by joining the tourism workforce.

That campaign includes a free business information kit to assist tourism businesses to attract older workers and benefit from their skills and experience.

These programs are part of the Federal Government's $48 million commitment to support the Australian tourism industry to upskill workers, support quality tourism products and deliver infrastructure upgrades.

Boosting disability employment in the tourism industry
Another part of the $48 million program will see 12 organisations across Australia share in $3 million to promote greater workforce participation for people with disability to work in the visitor economy.

An outcome of the Jobs and Skills Summit in September 2022, the Disability Employment Tourism Local Navigators Pilot will test new ways to connect job seekers with disability to meaningful tourism jobs.

Under the Pilot, organisations will receive funding for projects designed to support small and medium tourism businesses in recruiting, retaining and promoting employees with disability.

Local ‘navigators’ will act as a connector between tourism businesses and employment service providers along with people with disability. They will help to reform workplace cultures and employment practices along with building the confidence of employers to employ people with disability.

Click here for more information on the Choose Tourism program.