Choose Tourism campaign launched to try get more workers to the NT

$450k for a new tourism campaign aims to encourage more young people, First Nations Territorians and people with a disability to work in the NT. WATCH THE VIDEO.

A new campaign encouraging young people, First Nations Territorians and people living with a disability to pursue a career in tourism is being rolled out in the Northern Territory.

Federal Tourism Minister Don Farrell announced the NT Choose Tourism campaign in Darwin on Thursday with $450,000 funding from the federal government – part of a wider $7.5m plan to boost tourism nationally.

The campaign will run to June this year and use social media, Google, Spotify and YouTube to build awareness of tourism careers to promote a range of opportunities such as tour guides, event planners, travel agents, and roles in hotel management and hospitality.

A $200,000 tourism workforce, training and ambassador program will also be delivered by the Industry Skills Advisory Council NT to capitalise on the campaign.

“We expect by the end of this year that tourism will be back to where it was pre-Covid, what we don’t have is the workforce,” Mr Farrell said.

Amelia Nuku CEO Industry Skills and Advisory Council, Joel Bowden Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, Henri Peters TFE Hotels Indigenous Liaison Officer (NT) and Senator Don Farrell Minister for Trade and Tourism. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Adina hotel Indigenous liaison officer Henri Peters said attracting more Indigenous staff was challenging, and mentoring was key to help young people understand workplace requirements or overcome practical challenges such as transport.

He said staff shortages started to impact the business when it was peak tourist season.

“We’ll get the tourists coming in, and then we don’t have the staff to meet those guest’s requirements,” Mr Peters said.

“Then we see staff numbers dropping, and guests start complaining, and we’re still trying to do our best onsite to keep those numbers up.”

The minister expected tourism to return to pre-Covid levels in the coming year, but workforce capacity was an issue.

Head of ISACNT Amelia Nuku said the campaign would help connect job seekers with disability and youth service providers, but there were no specific measures detailed to support businesses to accommodate different needs.

“Already we have over 50 job seekers that have applied that we’ve already started connecting with service providers and the Australian Apprenticeships Support Network,” she said.

Exorbitant prices for flights in and out of the Territory are a barrier to growing the tourism industry, but NT Tourism Minister Joel Bowden said the government was working to improve the market.

“We expect there to be more planes in the air over the next year or so to get to those pre-Covid levels,” Mr Bowden said.