240403 Travel Manitoba Tourism IDI presentation and discussion

April 3, 2024

Agenda

Welcome and introductions

Workforce research highlights

Discussion/ feedback

Workforce campaign Wrap up

Project Goals

Understand the needs and challenges in Manitoba’s tourism labour market, and public perceptions

Recommend ways to stabilize and grow the tourism workforce, with a focus on training some initial messaging approaches

What We Did

30 Interviews

 Focus on frontline operators

 Focus on strategic growth areas

 Nov.-Dec. 2023

Survey

 800 Manitobans to gauge views on tourism careers

 Dec. 2023

Key Findings

Overall Themes

The tourism industry is still dealing with the lasting impacts of the pandemic.

The crime situation in this province [is a priority] for employers and their employees on the frontline. Staff need to be prepared. We don’t want injuries or heroes.

Everything that we do has changed since the pandemic, and nothing for the better.

Crime and safety are big concerns for operators, especially in Winnipeg.

Significant concern about rising business costs, reduced margins and the pressure to boost wages.

Unique pressures facing the Manitoba tourism industry.

Labor Needs and Gaps

In terms of sheer numbers and turnover, the frontline workforce is the focus of stakeholders’ time and attention.

 Applications are up but quality has declined.

 Unreliability, particularly around shift work/seasonal work

 Higher pay expectations

 A “revolving door” – for restaurant serving staff, frontline hotel staff and security, especially.

Skilled/experienced/supervisory/management positions are also becoming harder to fill.

 Open for months.

 Difficulty finding employees with specialized skill sets, particularly technical skills, skills in curation, and senior office staff in finance and HR.

 Reluctance to join the industry as an entrepreneur.

Filling Needs and Gaps

Hiring is less about training and experience and more about...

 Soft “power” skills

 Passion

 Willingness to grow

 Exceptional customer service abilities

 Reliability

 Hard or technical skills

We will advertise and get 50, 55 resumes, and you call those and only five people will answer the call for the interviews –– and then not show up. And in the interviews, you have to look past a lot of red flags.

Recruitment and Retention: What’s Working

Recruitment:

 Keeping in touch

 Starting very early hiring seasonal staff

 Developing an applicant inventory

 Tapping into the practicum and intern pipeline

 Collaborating and partnering

 Focusing on community outreach/relationships

 Elevating positions that are challenging to fill

Retention:

 Amping up the gratitude

 Offering opportunities for advancement

 Providing training and educational supports

 Promoting workplace culture

The Power of Newcomers

Over the last decade, immigration has helped fill many gaps in the provincial tourism industry workforce.

 Hospitality stakeholders said their industry could not function without TFWs, Ukrainian immigrants, etc.

 Newcomers initially take positions that don’t require English skills but many move into customer-facing positions in time.

 Holy Grail: A newcomer with tourism or hospitality training in their country of origin.

 Need for newcomers is acute in rural or northern communities.

(Immigrants) thrive here. Their families come. They pay taxes. They already have a degree in hotel/restaurant management. They will grow with us.

Public Perceptions of Tourism Careers

Manitobans’ Views on Tourism Careers

The tourism industry offers many different types of job and careers

A career in tourism offers many ways to learn new skills

A career in tourism offers many ways to grow as a person

The tourism industry offers many ways to get ahead in a career

I would encourage my friends and family to pursue a career in tourism

Jobs in the tourism industry are stable Strongly agree Somewhat agree

Source: Probe Research poll for Travel Manitoba, Dec. 2023-Jan. 2024, N=800 Manitoba adults.

Tourism Education & Training

Education and Training Programs

A couple of key shortcomings exist.

 Some employers do not recruit from programs, going to nontraditional sectors to fill roles.

 People with ideas for the industry may end up in business administration, HR or the arts instead.

 RRC Polytech and l’Université de Saint-Boniface to reframe programs.

Limitations of practicums as workforce tools.

 Co-op and placements take up a lot of staff time.

 Students may be relegated to menial tasks. In-house training.

 Not focused on critical, transferable skills.

 Festivals are talking about shared training.

Priority areas for training:

 Critical thinking skills

 Attention to detail

 Delegation and personnel management

 Project and time management

 Workplace health and safety procedures

 Technical and trades skills, particularly for stakeholders in events and attractions with stages, lighting, sound, etc.

Recommendations

Recommendations

Partnerships and Collaboration

 More collaboration and staff-sharing between operators

 Housing partnerships

 Creating an applicant inventory

 Tapping into referrals

 Community engagement to woo staff

Immigration and Newcomers

 Recruit/prioritize immigrants who have hospitality training and prior tourism experience

 Consider ways to expand the TFW program

 Refocus educational programs to retain international students

 Support French-speaking newcomers to learn English

Training and Education

 Conduct a deeper review of training and educational needs to align with what operators need now – frontline, entrepreneurs, leadership staff, etc.

 Consider reworking post-secondary programs to incorporate tourism education into business programs

 Sharing in-house training

 Upgrade the student experience through:

o Educational partnerships with other regions

o Classroom role-modelling, highlight Manitoba attractions, opportunities for growth, bigger picture

Last Word

Lifestyle is so important to this next generation. People travel from around the world to hunt and fish here. You can live that. Your job can be doing what people travel from around the world to do.

Discussion

Discussion and Feedback

First:  What hit the mark in the report?  What did we miss?

Second:  Help us augment and prioritize the report’s recommendations and determine what to do next.