Australian Tourism in 2022

As one of the main driving forces of the Australian economy before the pandemic, the tourism sector, having taken a beating during the height of covid 19, is now slowly emerging and looking to recover its former strength. With international borders now open, more businesses are looking to re-open and will be looking to hire the staff they require. This will create many job opportunities for those that are looking to re-enter or to find a new career in tourism. Domestic travel will initially play an important role in helping the tourism sector to recover, especially as people look to get out of the cities and explore the regional parts of the country. With the industry looking to bounce back, and an opportunity to help build it back better, there has never been a more exciting time to work in tourism.

The cost of covid

Before the Australian tourism industry was hammered by the dreadful 2019-2020 bushfire season and then shutdown completely by the covid-19 pandemic, it was worth $152 billion from the combined spending of domestic and international tourists, and directly employed around 660,000 people. The world’s tourism industry was generating 10 percent of global GDP and 320 million jobs before the pandemic, with 1.5 billion people taking a trip overseas each year. Thousands of jobs were lost in Australia, while around 100 million jobs disappeared throughout the world as the pandemic took its toll. Having entered the early months of 2022 and with international borders having only just opened as of the 21st of February to double vaccinated travelers, the road to recovery is still looking to be a long and arduous one. To further compound the issue, China is continuing to pursue a zero covid strategy. As China is Australia’s greatest source of international visitors, with tourists not being able to travel from there will hamper recovery greatly.

Domestic recovery

As the international market for tourists remains uncertain for the time being, domestic tourism, which before the pandemic accounted for $107 billion of the total tourism contribution to the economy, will be what really drives the initial stages of the recovery. Although state borders have been open for longer than those to the outside world, people are still eager to reunite with family and friends who they have not seen for close on two years. The money these people have for travel, will then be spent on that. Additionally, many people are looking to escape from the confines and hustle and bustle of the city and go into the regional areas for a break.

Tourism job opportunities

With labour shortages predicted in the Australian tourism industry due to the lack of international students and temporary visa holders, there will be many opportunities for employment in the sector as businesses look to hire and train new staff. There is an almost endless number of jobs that are directly employed in the tourism sector and those industries which service it, such as foodservice distributors, cleaning services, and the hospitality industry. Some of the jobs which you might find yourself working in as a part of in the world of tourism are:

• Tour operations manager: The role of a tour operations manager is to organise all aspects of travel for their clients. This includes reservation of hotels and flights, ticketing, control of daily travel needs, and provide customer support if needed. One of the most important aspects of being a tour operations manager, is to possess high level communication skills. To assist should problems arise, a tour manager is always on call for their clients. Some of these issues can include things such as helping with passport and immigration problems, to direct clients to a doctor, or to help with tracing lost baggage. The level of qualification required for entry into this role is a diploma of travel and tourism management and the average salary of a tour operations manager is approximately $60,000 a year.

• Sales manager: A sales manager job is to maximise the performance of a product or service and of the staff who are selling the product or service. Their main tasks and responsibilities include finding and maintaining new clients, handling customer complaints and queries, making sure sales targets are met, and training sales staff. To work in this role you will need strong customer service skills, be target and result driven, have strong interpersonal skills, and to be extremely self-motivated. The level of qualification required for entry into this role is a diploma of travel and tourism management and a sales manager can expect to earn an average yearly salary of $80,000.

• Adventure tourism guide: An adventure tourism guide instructs and directs groups in activities such as bungee jumping, mountain climbing, hiking, and whitewater rafting. Responsibilities include maintaining the safety of equipment, ensuring all activities are undertaken in a safe and responsible way, being prepared to respond to emergency situations, and give clear and concise instructions to the clients participating. To be qualified for this job, you may need a certificate III in tourism and relevant training in the specific area, such as whitewater rafting, that you were looking to work in. The average yearly wage for this job is $52,500 per year.

• Museum guide: The main tasks of a museum guide include ensuring the safety and security of the exhibits, answering questions about the exhibits, giving presentations on displays, meeting and greeting visitors, and conducting tours. As a museum guide, you will need to have good communication skills, excellent listening skills, have a broad range of historical and cultural knowledge, and great customer service skills. A certificate III in tourism will allow you to work in this job and you can expect to earn approximately $56,000 per year.

Other jobs which may be of interest include travel agent, the manager of a visitor information centre, a guide in an indigenous cultural site, working on a winery, or as a ride operator in a theme park. Starting now to train and gain a new qualification for a job in tourism will allow you to be well and truly ready for 2023-2024, when the industry is predicted to return to pre-pandemic levels of activity.

Time for takeoff

The tourism industry both in Australia and worldwide has been decimated by the travel restrictions imposed because of the pandemic. Borders are now open, planes are in the air and cruise liners sail the oceans, indicating that the recovery has well and truly begun but it will still be a long way back, especially for those businesses in Australia relying on tourists from China. Conversely, now is also one of the most exciting and advantageous times to get started with a career in the tourism sector in any field available, as businesses look to re-hire all the staff they lost, build back their brand and customer trust in them. The excitement also comes from the opportunity to be a part of people driven recovery to bring Australia back to the big stage, and remind everyone what amazing experiences there are to be had in this country.