Admit it: 2009 was a year to forget

Speaking to operators during Melbourne Expo last weekend, it struck me that things must be getting better – because people were finally prepared to admit how bad the back end of 2009 was.  

When times are tough, there’s a tendency to cry “Crisis, what crisis?” and pretend life’s never been better and I lost count of the number of conversations I had last year with operators claiming everyone else was doing the hard yards “but we’re actually up on 2008″. Which, when you think about it, can’t possibly be true.

Now, everyone seems to be lining up to admit the last six months of 2009 were a dog, with a lack of jobs at the core of the problem, especially in the south.

When winter hit, backpackers who couldn’t find work in Melbourne and Sydney either headed north or home. Hostels suffered as long-stay revenue dried up while a lack of discretionary spend among those who did stick around hit operators too.

Now, with recruitment specialists reporting more jobs than backpackers and plenty of work in the picking fields, it seems there may be grounds for cautious optimism. The challenge, as always, will be connecting backpackers to those jobs so they extend their stay.

Either way, whether 2010 proves a hit or a miss, experience suggests no-one will be prepared to say so until it’s all over.

By Martin Lane  ·  March 1st, 2010 at 12:23 pm

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