New government grants offer $7.5m to address tourism workforce shortages

New government grants offer $7.5m to address tourism workforce shortages
Edited by Travel Weekly


    The Albanese Government is helping to rebuild 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.

    The Choose Tourism program is among a number of Albanese Government measures, working in partnership with industry, aimed at helping to address workforce shortages across the tourism sector.

    Grants under the program will 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 our visitors.

    Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said Tourism Ministers around the country are united in their 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.

    Don Farrell poses next to Australia’s new PM Anthony Albanese (Facebook/SenatorDonFarrell)

    “The Albanese Government is committed to growing our tourism industry, and to achieve that we need to ensure they have the workforce they need,” Minister Farrell said.

    “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 Government’s $48 million commitment to support the Australian tourism and travel industry to upskill workers, support quality tourism products and deliver infrastructure upgrades.

    Featured Image: Young woman in Australia hiking looks at the Red Centre (iStock/swissmediavision)

    Latest News

    • Conferences

    Expedia CEO assures AI will not replace human roles, announces AI text assistant

    Travel giant Expedia has wasted no time unveiling several new features and products at its EXPLORE conference in Las Vegas, including the world’s first AI chatbot Romie. As to be expected, AI has been one of the key topics of discussion. Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin put fears to bed around its power and ability to […]

    • Aviation

    Top four airports report return to profit after post-Covid period comes to an end

    The aeronautical operations of Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airports returned to profit in 2022-23, the first full financial year since the end of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the ACCC’s latest Airport Monitoring Report shows. In contrast, all four monitored airports reported losses on their aeronautical operations in 2021-22. A return to profit was helped by […]

    • Luxury

    COMO launches new family-sized farmhouse in the heart of Tuscany

    COMO Hotels and Resorts has launched its new farmhouse apartments in the heart of Tuscany, just in time for Australians to escape our wet winter. And it’s also an ideal time for Aussies of Italian ancestry to explore their home country as 2024 has been declared the year of Roots and Heritage Tourism by the […]

    • Aviation

    Green light, green fuel for Townsville Airport as passenger numbers set to double to 3.7m

    The Townsville Airport Master Plan, including the expansion of the airport terminal and development of the surrounding precinct, has been given the green light by the Federal Government. The 2023 plan outlined Townsville Airport’s strategic vision and growth objectives over the next two decades, with a detailed focus on the initial eight years. Townsville Airport […]

    • Destinations
    • News

    New Caledonia in lockdown and airport closed after violent riots rock Noumea

    New Caledonia officials have announced a 6pm-6am curfew, a liquor ban and have closed the country’s main airport after overnight riots in which vehicles were torched and roads blocked in the wake of proposed constitutional reforms. Australian Government website Smartraveller has issued an alert informing visitors to exercise a high degree of caution in metropolitan […]