Port Fairy to benefit from Work and Play marketing campaign

So far, 12 people have been employed to work at Port Fairy hospitality and tourism businesses and eight of the 16 rooms reserved for seasonal workers have been booked for the 2023-24 summer.

Almost 100 people have registered their interest in working in Port Fairy over the busy tourist period in less than a month.

The push was part of Moyne Shire's Work and Play program with the council and Commerce Moyne joining forces to connect seasonal workers and businesses who register their details online in a bid to boost summer staff numbers.

A Moyne Shire spokesman said it partnered with backpacking network Welcome to Travel in mid-September which sent details to its extensive mailing lists and there had been "a significant response".

He said so far 95 people had registered their interest in working in Port Fairy over summer on the Commerce Moyne website.

The spokesman said the council was also running online ads targeting the demographic most likely to take up the offer of reduced rate accommodation and seasonal work.

The online advertisements, which began in late-September, will run for two months.

The Work and Play program, which was piloted last summer, will operate at the council-run caravan park from late-November 2023 to January 2024, providing rooms at Southcombe Lodge for hospitality and tourism workers at competitive rates.

The spokesman said the results were encouraging and each worker increased the capacity of local businesses to cater for holiday season demand.

Mayor Karen Foster said it was great to see another strong response to the Work and Play program from workers and local businesses.

"I'm really proud of our teams for thinking outside the box to create this innovative program which supports local businesses to operate at full capacity over the summer period," Cr Foster said.

"(It) ensures visitors have a great experience and keeps Moyne at the top of their summer destination list."

She encouraged other local businesses wanting to participate in the seasonal worker program to register at commercemoyne.au/work-and-play/ for the connection service.

Last summer the low-cost accommodation worker program helped 10 Port Fairy businesses find staff.

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