Mining, agriculture cause workforce headache for tourism sector: ‘visitor economy’ report

NSW’s $50 billion tourism industry is under threat from a 150,000-worker shortfall in the next decade, a yet-to-be released government report reveals.

NSW’s $50 billion tourism industry is under threat from a predicted 150,000-worker shortfall in the next decade, as young school leavers chase high-paying jobs in mining and agriculture instead of careers in tourism and hospitality.

The Daily Telegraph can exclusively reveal that the yet-to-be-released 2030 Visitor Economy Strategy Review has found NSW will need 450,000 people working in the tourism sector in 2035 – up from approximately 300,000 currently – with the report highlighting “leakage” of young workers other sectors as a potential threat to the future workforce.

School leavers aren’t taking up tourism careers, it found, with workers instead opting for trades, mining and agriculture “due to perceived better career paths, industry confidence and better pay”.

The review also found staff shortages in caravan parks, restaurants and cafes have been “exacerbated” by a shortage of accommodation, with room stock taken up by temporary workers in other sectors, and revealed current tourism courses are not meeting students’ or the sector’s expectations and required reform.

In response to the review’s recommendations, and in a bid to boost the sector’s workforce ahead of the first flights into the new Western Sydney Airport, school leavers will be subsidised to study tourism at TAFE with joint state and federal government funding.

Young people are favouring trades, mining and agriculture over tourism – primarily due to better pay. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The NSW government will offer a free introductory course to all NSW high school students from today, and relaunch a “modernised” Certificate III in Tourism qualification with contemporary case studies and industry-aligned assessments for the 2025 TAFE intake,

The short, self-directed “Introduction to the Visitor Economy” online microcredential will also be free for everyone in NSW for the next six weeks.

Tourists take photographs in front of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge on a spring day in Sydney. NSW’s visitor economy workforce needs to grow by 150,000 people over the next decade. Picture: David Gray/AFP

Pre-recorded video “masterclasses”, hosted by the experts at Scenic World, the Sydney Opera House, and Sea Life Sydney Aquarium operator Merlin Entertainments, among others, will be made available to the public via the TAFE website next month.

Tourism and Jobs Minister John Graham said the new training programs will be “invaluable” in relieving pressure on the “countless small businesses who are feeling the pinch” of workforce shortages.

Skills Minister Steve Whan said TAFE is “working closely with industry to deliver relevant, modern training” to build up the tourism workforce pipeline.

Annual visitor expenditure in NSW reached a record $51.4 billion in 2023 and is only expected to increase with the opening of Nancy-Bird Walton Airport in 2026.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – NewsWire Photos SEPTEMBER 15, 2024: John Graham Special Minister of State, Minister for Roads, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Music and the Night-Time Economy, Minister for Jobs and Tourism pictured talking to media at a press conference in Martin Place, Sydney CBD. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Federal Tourism Minister Don Farrell commended the state government’s moves to build up a skilled and sustainable workforce in NSW, which he said is “critically important” to the Australia’s tourism industry as a whole.

“My first job was in tourism, and I know first-hand what an amazing opportunity this industry provides,” he said.

“That is why the Albanese Government is supporting New South Wales, and all states and territories, to build their tourism workforce through our Choose Tourism grants program.”