‘The bookings are expected to start kicking in with a vengeance soon’: Tour operators scrambling to hire more staff before cheap flights take off
TOURISM operators in the Red Centre are scrambling to hire more staff and prepare for a wave of tourists expected to arrive on cheap flights
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TOURISM operators in the Red Centre are scrambling to hire more staff and prepare for a wave of interstate tourists expected to arrive on cheap flights.
Tourism Central Australia chief executive Danial Rochford said many operators were furiously hiring after the tourism industry saw a mass exodus of workers during the onset of COVID.
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“These flights have renewed confidence for the season ahead; we’re going to see a jobs boom,” he said.
AAT Kings Group CEO Matt Fuller said they had about 38 job vacancies ranging from tour guides to administration and mechanics.
“Confidence is growing, and the bookings are expected to start kicking in with a vengeance soon,” he said.
“The forward bookings from May onwards are already looking great.”
Wayoutback Safaris director Don Wait said many of his tour guides had moved interstate during the pandemic, and it was going to be a task filling those positions for May.
“We’re not ready,” he said.
“I know operators out there are probably sh**ing themselves. We’ll have to fight tooth and nail to find tour guides to do these trips.”
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Emu Run co-owner Patrick Bedford said he had been trying to recruit new staff since Christmas and still hadn’t filled all the positions.
“It’s going to be hard to get ready for these tourists when many of us are up to eyeballs in debt,” he said.
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