Outback tourist operators fear they won't have staff to handle upcoming peak season

Karumba accomodation owner Yvonne Tunney serving two tourists who came from Brisbane and Mount Isa. (ABC North West Queensland: Kelly Butterworth)

The outback tourist season is set to attract thousands of travellers west in the coming months, but instead of excitement businesses are panicking. 

Yvonne Tunney runs holiday accommodation in the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Karumba and said local shops and hotels were falling on family and friends to make up staff numbers. 

"In the past several years we've gone to use backpackers because we don't have much in the way of a local pool looking for work," Ms Tunney said. 

"It's been increasingly difficult to staff backpackers to run through the tourist season.

Tourism business operator Yvonne Tunney says the town has been getting busier, but she is nervous about lack of staff.  (ABC North West Queensland: Kelly Butterworth)

Ms Tunney said, with workforce shortages being felt nationwide, small outback towns had been often disregarded. 

"It depends how much you can stretch your budget to entice people to come out here," she said. 

"Nowadays, you need to provide them with decent accommodation, put them on good guaranteed award rates and look after them — and this year [backpackers] can pick and choose from quite a large selection." 

Some locals a saving grace

The Birdsville Bakery in south-west Queensland was able to open for the first time in two years, after struggling to find workers.

It was bought by the owners of the famous Birdsville Hotel last year but remained closed due to COVID-19's impact on tourism and challenges with recruiting baking staff to the outback. 

The Birdsville Bakery is usually only open from April until September each year, and typically attracts about 50,000 visitors per year. (Supplied: Hannah Statham)

Locals Brett 'Beaver' Neal and Abby Douglas were recruited this month as bakers after looking for a change in work and lifestyle.

"I guess we like to keep busy," Ms Neal said.

The Birdsville Bakery remained closed for a year after it was bought, due to lack of staff. (Supplied: Brett 'Beaver' Neal)

"Did a little bit of baking back in the day, but the opportunity had just come up and Birdsville Bakery was so iconic."

Bar and cleaning staff hurt the most

CEO of Outback Queensland Tourism Association (OQTA) Denise Brown said that labour-heavy jobs were most affected. 

"In the outback, we really rely heavily on backpackers where we don't have a lot of chefs, kitchen staff and cleaners," Ms Brown said. 

Labour-heavy jobs such as kitchen, bar and cleaning staff were the most affected from staff shortages. (Unsplash: Catt Liu)

Ms Brown said while travel restrictions and government subsidies had hindered many workers moving west, a lack of services in rural areas was the main culprit.

"We don't have a lot of places for them to live, or health services to support them, and that's what we are relaying back to government," she said.

Despite the staff shortages, OQTA had reported a 30 per cent increase in regional tourism bookings for the upcoming 2021 winter season compared to 2019.