Canada’s tourism industry needs to overcome a ‘shortage of talent’ as it emerges from the pandemic, according to industry leaders.
Speakers at the Rendez-vous Canada event in Toronto last week agreed a lack of trained staff was holding back the recovery, with some hospitality businesses unable to operate at full capacity as a result.
Liza Frulla, chair of the board of directors at Destination Canada, said: “Our industry is ready to welcome back travellers, but there’s challenges.
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“We know that the recovery will be uneven, there’s big challenges that remain, like labour shortages, and supply chain issues.”
Randy Boissonnault, Canada’s minister of tourism and associate minister of finance, agreed a lack of staff was a major hurdle when asked where the main issues lie.
“There’s no shock to anybody in this room that talent is one (major challenge),” he said.
“Now it’s incumbent on all of us in the sector to make sure that we retain that talent, that we train that talent, that we go get them early and show that they can have a future in the sector.”
Beth Potter, chief executive of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, outlined the knock-on effect on travel businesses, explaining they were “still dealing with capacity issues, so you’ll anecdotally hear that hotels are full”.
“They may not be full in the regular sense of the word,” she added. “They’re full to the capacity in which they have the labour to service the guests.”
Potter said: “The good news is they’re taking lots of calls, there’s lots of interest from travellers to get out and visit all of the destinations in Canada again so we’re very encouraged by that.”
The issues facing the Canadian industry have been reflected in multiple markets, including the UK where there have been calls for a joint industry effort to address the staff shortage crisis.
Frulla said it was important that people were made aware of the benefits of a career in the industry, adding: “We need to train them because as we’re missing a lot of labour and this is what prevents us being at full capacity, we would be full capacity if the labour would be there to greet and meet tourism.”
PICTURE: Destination Canada