Tourism Workforce Report

Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected Australia’s visitor economy workforce. Lengthy travel restrictions contributed to dramatic job losses in the visitor economy.

Workforce shortages have been a challenge for the visitor economy. This is particularly true in the period after the COVID-19 pandemic. The short-term absence of permanent and temporary migrant workers contributed to the deficiency of workers.

This report gives a snapshot of the visitor economy workforce in 2023. It draws on publicly available data sources to provide current insights on:

• the size and composition of the visitor economy workforce
• job vacancies in tourism-related occupations
• recruitment in the sector
• the availability of international labour.

Key findings

The report finds that:

• the visitor economy workforce has been recovering from the impact of COVID-19
• the recovery has taken time
• workforce shortages were acute and widespread in the visitor economy in 2022
• there are signs that the severity of workforce shortages has eased in 2023
• skills shortages remain elevated relative to the pre-pandemic period.

Data sources

The following data sources are the basis of our analysis in the report:

• Australian Bureau of Statistics, Tourism Satellite Accounts: Quarterly tourism labour statistics, Australia, June quarter 2023, accessed September 2023
• Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, August 2023, accessed September 2023
• Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index, June 2023, accessed September 2023
• Jobs and Skills Australia, Recruitment Outlook and Experiences Survey, June 2023, accessed September 2023
• Jobs and Skills Australia, The Skills Priority List (SPL) Key Findings Report, September 2023, accessed October 2023
• Department of Home Affairs, Temporary entrants (Student Visa Holders) data.gov.au, August 2023, accessed October 2023

More information on each data source is available in the report.

Growing tourism workforce and skills

Find out more about how TRA and Austrade support the growth of a world-class tourism workforce and skills – a THRIVE 2030 policy priority.