When Elliot Suckley arrived in Australia two years ago, he was an English barman seeking a fresh start.

“I was just looking for something new, something different,” he said.

“I’d been working in bars for years, but I knew I needed a change, something that would push me out of my comfort zone.”

The 28-year-old from Leeds jumped into various odd jobs — farm labour, construction, and bartending — while on an Australian Working Holiday Maker visa.

But everything changed when a friend suggested a white-water rafting guide course in Far North Queensland.

For Elliot, taking the course was a “leap of faith” given he’d never tried rafting before.

But it proved to be a good fit, leading him to a full-time position as a tour guide with one of Australia’s top adventure tourism companies.

“I knuckled down, worked my ass off for three months, lived out of my car to save on rent, and… did the course. I nearly didn’t make it, but I did, and absolutely loved it,” he said.

Swapping pints for paddles, Elliot embraced a new life on the water, capitalising on Australia’s critical shortage of tour guides — a gap so severe the federal government has had to intervene.

Tour guides have been added to the national Occupation Shortage List (OSL) for the first time, a tool used to determine eligibility for skilled migration visas, enabling foreign workers with specific skills to fill labour shortages.

With Elliot’s working holiday visa due to expire in April next year, the recent change to the shortage list could provide him with new opportunities to continue his career as a tour guide in Australia.

“It’s a bit of a lifeline for me,” he said.

‘Dream jobs’ go begging

While getting paid to explore Australia’s breathtaking landscapes and unveiling the nation’s hidden treasures may seem like a dream job, thousands of tour guide positions across cruise lines, museums, and national parks remain vacant, according to the peak body for the industry, Tour Guiding Australia (TGA).

“There’s a very big shortage, partly due to the pandemic, when many in the industry were forced to return home and others decided it was time to retire,” TGA Vice President Susan Rees said.

“The biggest problem is that tour guiding often isn’t considered a full-time career, which is a shame because tour guides are the face of the Australian tourism industry.”

The addition of tour guides to the Jobs and Skills Australia list comes despite the federal government’s recent allocation of $7.5 million to state and territory governments for their own “Choose Tourism” campaigns, to help boost the workforce.

The government has also committed $1.5 billion to provide 500,000 fee-free TAFE courses across the country, many of which include free tourism and hospitality programs.

Roderic Rees sits at the helm of Cairns Adventure Tours and has found himself navigating more than just the wild rapids of Far North Queensland.

With the company facing growing demand for its white-water rafting and sightseeing experiences, he’s seeking to fill 30 positions.

“We’re definitely feeling the shortage of tour guides here, especially with the peak season coming up at Christmas,” Mr Rees said.

The impact on business is significant.

“It directly affects our profitability and the ability to meet customer demand during peak times. If we have 100 people wanting to take a tour but only enough guides for 80, we can’t service everyone,” he said.

“It has a cascading effect on everything from revenue to capital investments, including destination marketing.”

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The Australian Tourism Export Council, which represents more than a thousand companies that provide tourism services to foreign visitors, lobbied for tour guides to be added to the federal government’s Occupation Shortage List.

Managing director Peter Shelley said with the gradual return of international visitors — numbers still haven’t fully recovered from before the global pandemic — the need for guides had grown.

“Tour guides are critical to delivering high-quality experiences to international visitors, and the demand for skilled guides is growing,” Mr Shelley said.

“Ensuring we have enough well-trained tour guides will be essential to Australia’s recovery as a leading global tourism destination.”

Mr Rees said while it may seem ironic that international workers were being brought in to guide other international visitors, Australia’s tourism industry had long relied on a diverse and skilled workforce to meet the demand, especially in roles where language skills were crucial.

“We try to hire local first but we always need international workers to service those peak periods,” he said.

“Occasionally, you might get someone on a tour who says, ‘hang on, that’s an English person telling me about the Daintree Rainforest’.

“But some of these internationals are more passionate than the Aussies, because they’ve lived in another place that isn’t so bio-diverse and spectacular as the natural landscapes we have here.”

Demand grows ahead of Olympics

Ms Rees said the demand for skilled tour guides was set to increase further, ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

She said the organisation was rolling out subsidised training courses across the country with strong interest from international residents looking to enter the tour guiding industry.

However, she said the perception of tour guiding as a low-paying, part-time job was a major obstacle and she stressed the need for campaigns, job expos and school outreach programs to shift that view.

“It’s an exciting job, there’s travel and it’s not just the same day in the office every day,” Ms Rees said.

“And it’s an important job too. It’s one thing to attract people to the country, but you have to have someone to deliver those experiences.”

For Mr Suckley, staying in Australia after his visa expires in April next year is a goal he’s striving to make a reality.

“A big part of why I came over here to Australia was to find out what I’m passionate about,” he said.

“Tour guiding is amazing, being out in nature, and I love the people, they’re always in the best mood because they’re on holidays.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else, I’m already a local, it’s just the paperwork now.”