hot air balloons drift by the National Museum of Australia

Visit Canberra

Choose Tourism Workshops and Mentoring

In early 2024 we supported VisitCanberra with Choose Tourism - Workforce Industry Capability Building Workshop and Mentoring to help tourism businesses proactively manage workforce shortages by tapping into ACT's growing workforce of young people. 

Approach

The goal was to craft a training program that engaged Tourism Businesses with new VisitCanberra research, that shared key data and insights on engaging 18 - 25 year olds to fill skills shortages within their tourism experiences. 

Taking the insights from the research, we crafted an inspiring yet practical training program which was delivered via live in-person workshops (x 2), online webinar (x 1) and individual mentoring. Over 35 tourism businesses and organisations engaged with the training from the Canberra Region.

Engagement from participants was high throughout the workshops and webinar with many participants sharing their ideas, challenges and solutions for attracting and retaining young people in the workforce.

Strategic Insights

Key insights from the research on attracting and engaging young people in the tourism workforce include:

  • Promote transferrable skills, not a lifelong career - People under 25 living in regional areas often lack the desire to commit to an employer long-term, as they anticipate moving further afield for career opportunities.
  • A "one size fits all" approach does not work for younger workers (or any workers for that matter). Open communication is essential, with a focus on personal development plans (PDP) and a two-way feedback process to foster trust and connection with staff.
  • Employer flexibility is essential - being open to the contemporary workforce's needs will present opportunities to connect effectively with new staff.
  • Workforce retention = skill development and flexibility. Staff often do not wish to be limited by conventional roles, so provide opportunities to allow them to develop new skills across different roles.

Key Outcomes

A survey was distributed to all participants at the end of the Program.

  • All respondents were ‘very satisfied’ with the Program content and delivering (scores received were 9/10 and 10/10).