And getting more tourists in who are willing to devote a portion of time working on the land could prove a godsend for Australia’s farmers who continue to struggle to find seasonal workers amid the fallout from the pandemic.According to a newly released Global Work & Travel survey, 82 per cent of respondents said they are willing to work on a farm for three months if it meant they could travel to Australia now.The survey results also saw Queensland rated the most popular destination for travellers at 51 per cent, followed by New South Wales (21 per cent) and then Victoria (9 per cent), Western Australia (9 per cent), South Australia (6 per cent), Tasmania (3 per cent) and Northern Territory (1 per cent). One hundred per cent of respondents said they would rather take a working holiday for one-two years in Australia than take a 10-day small-group tour in Australia.CEO and Co-founder, Jürgen Himmelmann said Global Work & Travel is seeing strong trends in overseas travellers inquiring and booking to come to Australia for a working holiday post-pandemic.Should foreigners be allowed into Australia to work on farms now?“On average we receive over 800 new inquiries per month from overseas travellers eager to book a working holiday to Australia.” Mr Himmelmann said. “Australia has fared relatively well during the pandemic compared to other countries, so it’s no surprise we have a significant backlog of overseas working holiday-makers booked, ready and waiting to arrive and get to work on struggling Australian farms; we just need the borders to open,” he said. “Our agricultural industry partners, who traditionally rely on working holiday makers to harvest their seasonal crops, have expressed serious concerns about the future of their farms and are desperate to see travel borders open so they can reconnect with our seasonal staffing solutions.”Farmers are desperate for workers and the situation is expected to worsen between March and May during Queensland’s major harvest season.In recent weeks, 200 seasonal farm workers arrived in Australia from the Pacific Islands to start work on Victorian farms in the next fortnight, after quarantining in Tasmania.The Victorian Government committed in January to bring 1500 Pacific Island workers into the state by the end of June, to help farmers struggling with workforce shortages, after finalising a quarantine-sharing arrangement with Tasmania.“This arrangement isn’t a silver bullet in addressing this season’s challenges, but it will ease some of the pressure being felt by farmers,” Victoria’s premier Daniel Andrews said at the time.Currently, the Morrison government has set a cap of 6300 international visitors allowed to enter Australia weekly.The two-week hotel quarantine for arrivals has not changed, despite suggestions that vaccinated Australians could soon be allowed to return and quarantine with family or friends.
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