The Australian Hotel Associations are looking for ways to address shortages in the industry. “Attracting and retaining staff is a challenge for businesses across the board – not just hotels. Hotels have recognised this and as a result, many of them are adapting their recruitment practices, work systems and training schemes to increase productivity and reduce the level of turnover in the industry.” said Australian Hotels Association Director National Affairs, Bill Healey.

Bill Healey also says: “The hotel industry isn’t unique when it comes to having difficulty recruiting workers and that demographic changes – both here and overseas – will mean that skill and labour shortages will be a business challenge for the next decade. Investment in new hotels remains low, despite recent occupancy and room rate increases, and projections by Tourism Australia that over 16,000 new hotel rooms will be required to cater for the projected growth in visitors over the next 10 years.”

“Investors are not silly,” Mr Healey said. “They realise that the returns on Australian hotels are still low compared to overseas destinations and other property classes. Quality service will be a key factor in attracting high yielding visitors. However, our high global wage-to-operating costs reduce a hotel’s ability to address people shortages solely by increasing wages.”