You can have a career in tourism but there are things the industry can do to make it more attractive
Opinion: Fancy a job in the tourism industry? It’s a helluva place to be: underpaid, poor working conditions, seasonality, and shonky career opportunities.
Well, that’s what many have been saying about the tourism industry for years, but it’s a reputation that needs to be fixed urgently.
Pre-pandemic, tourism accounted for a tenth of global GDP and jobs, but Covid halved the industry’s value, and in New Zealand 90,000 tourism jobs were lost – one out of four.
But now with the industry, including aviation, reporting unprecedented demand from travellers, it needs to attract a whole new workforce.
In New Zealand, the supposed jewel in the crown of tourism, Queenstown has about 600 vacancies in a town with a population under 16,000.
There is an urgency in the winter destination staffing up for the ski season, with Australians amping to cross the Tasman and get on to our snow.
Previously the industry has relied on immigrants to fill jobs, but the slowness of visa processing has them under stress.
It’s time to rebrand tourism as a desirable industry with long-term career prospects that kiwis want to work in.
I recall pre-pandemic attending the New Zealand Tourism Awards. The room was buzzing with an industry on a high. I saw people that had made a career out of tourism – those I’d first met in the 90s who had moved into management positions or successfully invested in their own businesses.
Despite its reputation as a job until you get a real one, many stay in tourism for life and there is a good reason for that.
In my experience working in the industry, it was incredibly positive, a natural fit for New Zealanders who enjoy people, showing off their gorgeous country and the outdoors. Pre-Covid the industry I knew was largely full of people feeling lucky to love going to work every day.
And yet tourism still has a reputation that it does not offer a career.
The need to make the tourism industry more compelling as a career has been the subject of projects, groups, papers, associations and mentoring programmes including the Young Tourism Export Council programme. Last year, a government initiative – Go With Tourism Workforce Wānanga – came up with ways to improve and build the workforce.
But the industry must do more than navel gazing – it needs to find some ambassadors to advocate, but it also needs to make some adjustments.
First, beloved industry, you pay rubbish money for new entrants and in this hot labour market there are too many other better paid options.
Your current shortage of staff could be addressed by promoting progressive career options with ongoing training and career development to potential staff.
Fortunately for you, not everyone is motivated by money. Deloitte research shows that Gen Zers bring quite different values to the workplace. This includes catering for diversity and inclusion equity, not just for race and gender, but also to identity and orientation.
Gen Zers are longing for a personalised career, not just a cookie-cutter approach for the new batch of employees. There is no reason why that can’t be offered.
Yes, tourism is based on seasonality so you can’t accommodate long-term careers. This is a worldwide issue so surely there is an opportunity to partner with businesses peaking while you’re in the slow season. Research suggests this would be welcomed at least by Gen Zers who prefer to have a job with broad experiences and don’t want to be specialists.
Training is another big pull factor. The hospitality part of the tourism industry has a great reputation for throwing untrained staff in at the deep end.
Potential employees will be attracted to learning new skills as you face one of the biggest industry challenges – increased digitisation.
The poor reputation of tourism as a career starts early. I find it bizarre that tourism is considered a non-academic school subject. It is one of the largest export businesses in the country and requires smart people just like any other industry.
Most of all though, being comfortable and having fun will go a long way to attracting staff. Culture and a good working environment are key reasons people stay in organisations.
As borders open, many people young and old will be desperate to travel. That means a whole global talent pool is likely to open up. New Zealand tourism is a fantastic industry to work in – it's time to make it more appealing to those who don’t know it yet.
