50,000 extra tourists: Now we need the workers to serve them
More than 50,000 tourists are heading to the Territory thanks to the Federal Government’s airfares incentive scheme.
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MORE than 50,000 tourists are heading to the Territory thanks to the Federal Government’s airfares incentive scheme.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave the latest figure when he addressed Top End tourism operators in Darwin today.
The 50,000 tickets represents close to 9 per cent of the half-price airfares from the federal government incentive scheme that have been snapped up so far.
Just 200,000 of the 800,000 tickets available have gone.
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Mr Morrison said he was delighted with the Territory uptake, but acknowledged the surge in tourists to the Territory has thrown up the challenge of solving the worker shortage problem.
It is a problem he pledged to tourism and hospitality businesses to work with industry to try and fix.
“The challenge now is workforce … the backpacker workforce is particularly important to regional and remote parts of the country and that’s certainly the case in the Northern Territory,” Mr Morrison said.
“The workforce challenge we are having right across the country is more acute here. “I’ll take a lot of the feedback I have had on that and the great practical suggestions.
“It means getting staff in, getting people with the skills to come and do this and how that will happen.
“We will work together on solving that problem just like we worked together on the other issues. I know Australians will be making their way up to what is arguably one of the most unique experiences you can get anywhere in the world.”
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