Tourism and hospitality operators in tropical North Queensland say they are unable to capitalise on the domestic travel boom due to a shortage of workers, as industry groups ramp up their marketing efforts toFollowing a strong Easter, tourism operators in Cairns are predicting a busy dry season and are rushing to replace theJoel Gordon has spent the last six months getting the three Crystalbrook hotels in Cairns back up to full capacity.
“The labour market is very skewed to the employee at the moment and I don’t know of any hospitality businesses that are paying only the award anymore. You have to pay above the award to get people,” he said. Mr Gordon said the venues were at 90 per cent occupancy over the Easter long weekend, which gave him the confidence to ramp back up to full capacity after 18 months of opening and closing hotels.“Easter really gave me a sense that I could start building our hotel teams with a lot of confidence to really ensure that when peak season hits we are well-prepared,” he said.
Mr Olsen said there are around 900 job vacancies in hospitality, retail and tourism in Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.To entice backpackers to the tropics, Tourism Tropical North Queensland will on Monday launch a new destination marketing campaign targeting young people in the United Kingdom and European Union.
Despite launching a recruitment drive in January which added 62 employees to the roster, staff numbers are still down 30 to 40 per cent compared to 2019 Mr Rees said.
The LNP has left the country in a fine mess. Hospitality workers now need much higher wages to meet the costs of accommodation in these areas! It’s the price of making housing an investment commodity!