Industry Confidential

“I Did Not Resign Because of the Money”

The Great Resignation has been on the minds of business leaders since the Spring of 2021, when nearly four million workers quit their jobs. This continued into the Fall as vaccination eased the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the unemployment rate decreased, and job openings increased. By the end of November, the number climbed to 4.5 million. Most economists will tell you that resigning from a post is usually an expression of optimism.

The Great Resignation trend had its tentacles reach across all industries, and tourism and sports tourism were no different. Resignations will continue in 2022, but the expected turnover will not spike as high as last year. Sports tourism comes with immeasurable perks. But even the perks were not enough to keep one sports tourism professional from continuing a career. Recently we reached out to a former mid-level sports tourism industry professional. We learned of the mental and physical sacrifice that ultimately led to this individual (we’ll refer to this person as “X”) walking away from the industry altogether. X had the following to say concerning their mindset at the time.

“Even though I’m completely passionate about sports tourism, I, and others, are leaving the profession with enthusiasm. It is easier for people to believe that I left due to the crummy pay. It was easier for the HR director to believe it was because I found something more passionate about.” Here are the five main reasons X left the job and the industry. None of which had to do with the salary.

“The old excuse ‘the industry has changed.’ No. No, that’s not the case. Sports tourism is sports tourism. Our world and society have changed. It’s new business practices and technology that have changed. Sports tourism has blended and adhered to these developments. We’re all working crazy hours, consumed by terrible media influences, rhetoric, and devices. And we’re going to give the excuse that the industry has changed?” X mentioned frustration with colleagues and client accountability. “It’s OK to drop the ball now and again; I don’t judge, especially during the tough times we all faced over the last two years. I’m the first to stand up and own a mistake when I have. But seeing people work hard to reassign blame when clearly, they were at fault is altogether different.”

In some cases, technology can be a blessing or a curse. Destination marketing organizations and sports commissions face challenges each year of, in essence, “keeping up with the Jones.” Means that they see a competitor investing in new technology and therefore using the “use it or lose it” budget mindset clicks in, and they do the same. What works for one doesn’t mean it will work for another.

The basics of relationship building and handson learning can also go by the wayside. X stated that relationships can be put on the back burner and no longer depended upon. Instead of managing and mentoring skills, a higher value for directors is placed on the ability to use technology.

Many destination marketing organizations and sports commissions make annual investments in facilities, or technology, without a plan for using it to their advantage. Kind of like the old examples of spending a ton of money on a new 3-to-5-year strategic plan and then having it sit on a shelf in the office not being followed, just because you feel as though it needs to be done. These useless expenditures, therefore, render no return on investment. X was passionate when speaking of watching and became increasingly agitated over the spending

waste each year. Instead, these resources could have been used to make more substantiated upgrades or better spent on retaining talent.

Success comes from a partnership with the administration and elected officials on the destination side. Though this partnership is no longer a given as often, our colleagues are justifying “tooth and nail” for funding or catering to elected officials’ requests. “To a certain extent, we’ve adopted a customer service mindset.” X meant that politics requires a “give a little to get a little” mindset from time to time. Occasionally an elected official has the power to drive decision-making and action, even if it’s not the right thing to do for the tourism or sports tourism effort.

Separate from our conversation with X, we learned of a newly elected official whose child competes in a specific sport. Within the first month of being elected, this official successfully maneuvered funding to build a new facility that caters to this particular sport, even though the neighboring community has had a successful book of business for that sport for decades. Rather than working together in the right direction, politics can lead to an all-out war that can cost even seasoned veterans to lose their dream job.

A buildup of stress can place your physical and mental health in jeopardy. Placing job demands above your well-being can sometimes lead to a long, dark path of bad habits and grief.

“I became an emotional eater, a couch potato to zone out, and short-fused. My family suffered.” Eventually, these stressors led X to walk away for now. “I didn’t leave for better pay,” they wrote. “I decided to go after an idea I had been carrying around in my head for years. So far so good. This break has been refreshing.” X’s passion and honesty are undoubtedly shared by others who might be stuck in a similar rut. “There are others who feel that way but have felt alone and guilty for thinking so,” X told us. “I am happy to help open the curtains on these and other issues and give those who feel unable to say it a voice.”