The industry needs to collaborate to sell the perks of working in travel, a seminar focused on attracting young talent has been told.
Businesses should feature positive and fun images of staff and testimonials on their websites, said Claire Steiner, UK director of Global Travel and Tourism Partnership.
“We must collaborate on how we attract young people to our sector, which is becoming more difficult,” she told Abta’s Future Skills in Travel and Tourism seminar in London.
More: Special Report: Future Skills in Travel and Tourism seminar
“We are an incredibly sexy industry. We need to think about why we love working in travel and how we can make sure people get that sense from us.”
Companies were advised to use social media to “brag” about working in the industry – for example, by promoting the travel opportunities – and to encourage young staff to promote the perks to their peers.
Steiner also stressed the need for companies to invest more in recruitment and to increase the benefits and promotion opportunities they offer.
Franki Johnson, director of Embrace Change, which helps businesses engage with Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2010), said a “positive brand culture” was increasingly important to younger people.
She added: “Communicate your brand culture and mission; it’s about bringing that brand experience to them. You need to go to where they are, to attract them – be it on Instagram or YouTube.”
Paula Letorey, a director at PwC, said retaining staff was harder than in the past. “Employees are expecting a lot more, so to retain that talent, we need to think differently,” she said.
“There is a focus on pay transparency and wellbeing.”
Steiner said the issue was all
the more pressing because a recruitment crisis was looming.
Citing World Travel & Tourism Council figures from 2015, she said 600,000 jobs in the UK – and 14 million globally – were at risk if firms did not address the anticipated talent shortage over the next decade.
“We need to find people to fill these jobs. This is a big challenge for the industry,” she warned.
More: Special Report: Future Skills in Travel and Tourism seminar
