‘Everyone is so desperate’: backpackers grapple with Australia’s high costs |

“There’s literally nowhere available!” Michel von Düsterlho, a 26-year-old backpacker from Germany, says of searching for hostels.

Von Düsterlho, who arrived in Australia on a working holidaymaker (WHM) visa, is following a path trod over decades by young travellers in search of sunnier climes, golden beaches and the opportunity to work casually along the way.

In 2019, the WHM scheme attracted more than 300,000 travellers, and was Australia’s second-largest tourism market by spend after China.

But as backpackers return after pandemic lockdowns, they face significantly higher prices for travel and accommodation as the country’s tourism industry rebounds from Covid.

Many accommodation providers were shuttered over the course of 2020 and 2021, particularly those catering to backpackers, so there are fewer places for visitors to stay.

“We’ve seen a reduction in capacity across the wider hostel market – in some areas over half of properties have gone,” YHA Australia’s chief executive Paul McGrath says. Across Australia, 19 of YHA’s properties have closed permanently, while Tourism Adventure Group, the owner of Nomads hostels, closed or sold six of its 16 Australian properties during the pandemic. Now its prices have increased by almost 50%.

Far from the barefoot, go-at-your-own-pace lifestyle that draws many travellers to Australia, backpackers are report housing stress and rethought plans. “It’s almost impossible to find anywhere to stay without booking in advance … it makes me quite anxious,” says Hannah Storm from the Netherlands. She now books at least two weeks in advance, to save money and find higher rated accommodation. “I was thinking about a road trip but I’m not sure if it’s feasible with the need to pay for accommodation along the way and the price of fuel at the moment.”

Beth Stone learned the perils of booking at the last minute the hard way. “I paid £100 [$180] for one night in a 100-person dorm room in Surfers Paradise! It was the second place I went after arriving and I didn’t book ahead – it was either that or somewhere with no reviews at all.”

India Taylor, who is working as a receptionist at a Byron Bay hostel in exchange for accommodation, says her job essentially involves turning people away as the hostel is fully booked. “Conditions in some of the other hostels I’ve stayed in are awful,” she says. “But the owners can get away with it because they know they’ll get bookings anyway. There’s no incentive to improve.”

K’Dee Melfi started a round-the-world trip in January and has spent the last month in Australia. She knew it would be more expensive than the other countries she’d visited but she was still taken by surprise. Even places with bad online reviews “are low on availability because everyone is so desperate”, she says. “It was actually cheaper to book a serviced apartment [in Melbourne] and share it with three people than stay in an eight-bed dorm room.”

Other backpackers report having to sofa surf…