Tasmania embarks on tourism workforce recruitment drive
Apple Isle gets to the core of industry staff shortage issues
With Tasmania’s borders due to reopen on December 15, all the indicators point towards the Apple Isle enjoying one of its busiest tourism seasons in years.
Spirit of Tasmania reported close on $3 million in bookings over a single weekend while Hobart and Launceston Airports anticipate their busiest December passenger movements since 2019.
But alike their state and territory counterparts, the local tourism industry is facing a critical staff shortage.
In order to counter this, the Tasmanian Government, Tourism Industry Council Tasmania (TICT) and Tasmanian Hospitality Association (THA) plan to launch a three-tiered initiative aimed at growing the Apple Isle’s workforce for summer but also with an eye to the longer term as the state moves to address challenges the tourism and hospitality industries face in attracting and retaining staff.
Funded by the Australian Government ‘Recovery for Regional Tourism’ program as part of the $1 billion COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund, three initiatives include a ‘one stop shop’ online portal for jobs, training and employer resources, a marketing campaign to encourage locals to work in tourism and hospitality which launches this month, and a series of short industry courses designed to address critical skills gaps and help make people work-ready quickly.
The jobs portal has been designed to make it easy for employers to attract staff with role description templates provided and a simple copy and paste function enabling quick uploads.
The portal also enables employers to advertise the available work via a ‘Job Beacon’ function allowing them to print and display a poster that contains all the information about the role complete with QR code so jobseekers can use their smartphones to access the full position description and apply directly online.
Running right across summer, the digital and radio marketing campaign will specifically target Tasmanians who are under 25, who have just left school, late school years or maybe looking for work while taking a gap year.
A further print and digital campaign will target early retirees looking for part-time work.
Critical skills gaps are being filled by short course industry training, delivered by new industry-owned training organisation VXT, to support the new workforce.
The short courses are designed to quickly upskill employees and can assist employers to speed up the onboarding process for new hires. Course fees start from $80 a person.
Visit www.vxt.org.au to find out more.
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
