Tickets in £10 Flight to Adelaide campaign sell out in minutes

In late April, the South Australian Tourism Commission commenced its most successful campaign to date. The ‘£10 Flight’ campaign in the UK offered 200 £10/€10 return tickets to Adelaide.

More than 16,000 people in the UK and Ireland registered their interest and the 200 tickets sold out in less than five minutes.

Keen traveller, 29-year-old Niamh Mulkerrins of Galway, Ireland, is the first to board a plane to Adelaide on the £10/€10 ticket – arriving into Adelaide tonight. She will be joined by ten other young travellers later this month.

“I’m so excited to be the first of the 200 £10 flyers to depart and can’t wait to arrive in Adelaide. I’m already thinking I’d like to extend my Working Holiday Visa, staying on for a second year,” she said.

“To do this I need to do 88 days seasonal work in regional Australia so I’m planning on finding farm work in South Australia. I’ve been working in insurance for the last seven years in Ireland so I’m seriously ready for a new adventure.”

The success of the program has been so significant that the South Australian Tourism Commission is now extending the deal with £499 return airfares being offered to those Working Holiday Visa holders who were not successful in the £10 campaign.

All the £10 flyers have a valid Working Holiday Visa and are booked to fly into Adelaide before the end of September 2022 with flight partner Qatar Airways.

Minister for Tourism Zoe Bettison said the campaign would help fill much needed job vacancies.

“We can’t wait to welcome the £10 flyers and all those others who have been inspired by the campaign to start their Working Holiday Visa adventure in Adelaide," said Ms Bettison.

Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) make up to 250,000 Australian jobs and contributed $3.2 billion to Australia’s visitor economy in 2019, representing seven per cent of total visitor spend.

Skills shortages right around Australian have the Working Holiday Makers market a competitive one.

AHA (WA) CEO Bradley Woods said, “With travel resuming around the world, there is fierce competition for backpackers and international students."

Pre-COVID, the backpacker market was a significant employer within the hospitality, tourism and primary industry sector. South Australia had 27,000 working holiday visitors to the state in 2019, spending $47 million in the visitor economy.

While in Western Australia in the same year, 51,000 working holiday makers spent $234 million in the state.

Western Australia

WA is now well into its own Stay and Play campaign to attract working holiday makers from the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and South Korea, and from interstate.

It targets the UK and Europe as non-stop flights between London and Perth return and offers the additional incentive of $2100 to eligible working holiday makers to work in select regional locations through the WA Government's Regional Agriculture, Tourism and Hospitality Workers Travel and Accommodation Support Scheme.

Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan said, "We are welcoming backpackers back to regional WA - and the $2100 sweetener will help to get them out into the bush."

Tourism WA's $850,000 initiative is supported by the State Government's $195 million Reconnect WA package, promoting Western Australia in order to boost the seasonal workforce at key tourism destinations and regional locations.

The extra $2,100 to work and travel in select regional locations includes an accommodation allowance of $40 per night for up to a maximum of six weeks for international Working Holiday Makers or 12 weeks for Australians, along with a one-off allowance up to a maximum of $500 to assist with travel costs.

Tourism Minister Roger Cook said, "The full reopening of the WA border in early March has helped resolve some of these short-term labour shortages in the hospitality and tourism sectors, but we know there are still many businesses struggling to fill vacancies and we need to recruit further afield to restore a full workforce."

Last week, the Australian Hotels Association (WA), in conjunction with Tourism WA, launched westernaustralia.jobs, a dedicated website to list jobs, careers and training opportunities in WA’s hospitality and tourism industry.  

Tagged: "Where adventure and opportunity meet", AHA(WA) Mr Woods said the purpose-built website is a one-stop shop for those looking to enter the industry, assisting jobseekers from Australia and overseas to fill the numerous positions that exist across the state.  

“Staffing shortages is the number one issue impacting WA’s hotels, hospitality venues and tourism businesses,” Mr Woods said. 

“With so many current vacancies across WA, now is the ideal time to invest in a website that can establish itself as a go-to resource for WA’s hospitality and tourism businesses, as well as jobseekers looking to enter the industry.”  

It is free for employers to list jobs on the site and easy for jobseekers to navigate, including information on visa options, training courses and career profiles. 

Photos courtesy of the South Australian Tourism Commission and Tourism WA.