Solo Episode: Tourism Careers Have a PR Problem

Episode Description

In this first solo episode of Tourism Matters, prompted by a question asked of her on LinkedIn, Carmen Bold explores one of the biggest challenges facing the tourism industry: how do we attract more people into tourism careers when so many of those careers are still invisible from the outside?

Carmen shares her thoughts on why tourism has a PR problem, why the industry needs to do a better job of showing the breadth of roles available, and why career conversations need to reach far beyond tourism students and people already inside the sector.

She also reflects on the value of education, the importance of lived experience, and the flexibility that makes tourism such a powerful and adaptable career path.

This episode is a call to stop talking about tourism careers in narrow, outdated ways and start showing people what the industry really offers.

What You’ll Take Away From This Episode

•  Why tourism careers are still poorly understood by many people outside the industry 
•  The need to broaden awareness beyond travel agents, flight attendants and tour guides 
•  Why tourism education is valuable, but not the only pathway into the industry 
•  How tourism can offer serious, rewarding and life-changing career experiences 
•  Why flexibility is one of tourism’s greatest strengths 
•  The importance of keeping good people in the industry, not just attracting new ones 
•  Why workplaces need to support, develop and retain their teams 

About Carmen Bold

Carmen Bold is the host of Tourism Matters and a Tourism Workforce & Industry Capability Specialist.

With more than 25 years’ experience across tourism operations, frontline delivery, events, destination management, industry development, partnerships, workforce capability and entrepreneurship, Carmen brings a practical, real-world lens to conversations about the future of tourism.

Her work focuses on tourism careers, workforce development, operator capability and the role people play in delivering standout visitor experiences.

Organisations Referenced

Carmen Bold on LinkedIn:
 https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmenbold/

Carmen Bold Website:
 https://carmenbold.com

Episode Chapters

 00:00 Introduction to Tourism Careers
 01:52 The Visibility Problem in Tourism Careers
 05:00 Broadening the Audience for Tourism Careers
 06:38 Education and Pathways into Tourism
 07:33 The Nature of the Tourism Industry
 10:02 Flexibility and Career Paths in Tourism
 12:54 Retention and Development in the Tourism Industry

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome friends to the Tourism Matters Podcast, where I, Carm and Bold, explore the people, entrepreneurs, and ideas shaping the tourism industry today. Folks, in this week's episode, because officially zero people asked for it, I am recording a solo episode. The uh this was born out of a question that I was asked on a LinkedIn post, actually. And the question went something along the lines of uh how can we better attract people into the tourism industry? So I've taken it upon myself to record this episode and give my two Bobs. Now, I've said this before and I'll say it again. I don't see myself to be the expert in anything. I have my own opinions that I have formulated over 25 years from a variety of experiences across a variety of countries, but nothing that I say is set in stone. So I welcome discussion about this. And uh I think discussion and differing opinions is fun and interesting. So if you hear me say something that you agree with or disagree with, gee, I'd love to hear about it. So here is my response. How can we encourage people into the tourism industry? Now, first of all, I just want to say um, not young people, but people of any age. That's who I am referring to. The first thing I have to say about this is, and you might have heard me say it before, tourism careers have a PR problem. People can't choose a career that they can't see. They don't know if it exists. So we talk about careers in tourism, including travel agents, tour guides, flight attendants, hotel concierges. But these are all the roles that, well, quite frankly, we can already see. We can physically see these people doing these roles. People outside of the tourism industry know that these roles exist. What they don't know exists are things like destination management, policy, product development, state tourism organizations, inbound tourism, online travel agents, workforce development, even tourism education and marketing, commercial management, sales, all of these plethora of other jobs that exist in our industry and are required for our industry to operate, they're invisible to people that don't work in the industry. So, how can we expect anyone to consider a career in the industry if they don't even know what the career options are? That's point number one. We need to do a better job as an industry of educating people that are considering a move into the tourism industry as to what a career path can look like. And I mean a real rewarding and a viable career path, not a summer job, not something that you're doing on the side while you're studying. These are all, you know, valid things, but what I'm particularly referring to here is a tourism career. The second thing I'd like to say is we need to talk to a broader spectrum than just students. So a lot of our state tourism organizations do a really great job of getting in front of school students, career expos, etc., school expos. And this is uh critically important. But we also need to be getting in front of parents, teachers, career advisors, and also uh career changers, people of any age that are reconsidering what their career has been so far in their life and perhaps want to consider the tourism industry, perhaps are looking for an industry that, you know, is a bit more grounded in people and place and maybe aligns with their values. So we need to A, be talking to a broader scope of person that's interested in the industry, but then B, if we are referring to young people, we need to get in front of the key people that influence their decisions about what they're going to do in their career. You know, so again, teachers, career advisors, parents. So, you know, that's a work in progress. And I know that there are state tourism organizations that are working on this, and I applaud you. Yeah, this is something that definitely needs further work. Uh, point number three. We need to make sure that those that are considering the tourism industry are aware that there are multiple entry points. Formal education is great if you're that way inclined, but it is not necessary. There are many ways to enter the tourism industry if formal education is not your thing. It can be invaluable to learn the nuts and bolts of the industry, but specifically in my experience and from those that I've spoken to, the opportunities that you have to network, volunteer your time, and sort of get a foot in the door from some formal education can be really invaluable. Those opportunities are fantastic. However, if formal education is not lighting your fire, does not light you up, is not your strength, it's not something that you have the capacity in your life to uh invest in time and money, you don't need to. You can get a foot in the door uh without formal education. I might also say you can move between sectors of the industry and roles in the industry without having to go back and study. Plenty of people, including guests on this very podcast, have built serious tourism careers with zero hours informal education, tertiary education. So if it's something you want to explore and something that you feel drawn to do, there are many, many great options out there from a cert three in tourism, travel and tourism all the way through to master's and postgraduate qualifications. However, if that's not your thing, it does not need to be your thing. I'll tell you what does need to be your thing though: a good head on your shoulders and a good heart. But I think I might talk about that in another episode. So, point number three, formal education is great if that's what you're up for. And if you're not, it is not a barrier. I promise. Um, the next thing I'd like to say is, and this comes up again and again and again when I'm talking to people in the industry, and I think sometimes we forget. Travel and tourism is a fun industry to work in. And we not forget that the industry is built around providing experiences, sometimes bucket list experiences, once in a lifetime experiences for our guest. Travel, place, culture, nature, food, events, adventure, making memories. This is this is what we deliver. By no means is every day glamorous. There's administration, there's rosters, there's grumpy customers, there's busted logistics, there's uh accounts and finance and all the other things. But at the end of the day, our t our industry is based around fun, life-changing experiences. And I think as an industry, we need to do a better job of exposing this to those that are considering it as a career. I could go on, but I shan't. Point number five, I would like to say, is that, and this has come up again in the podcast time and time again, the tourism industry can flex with your life as it changes. If you want to work in the tourism industry while you study to do something else, you can. If you want it to be an adventure in your early career while you travel or to give you cause to travel, you can. If you want it to be a full-time, full-blown leadership pathway, career, it can be that. It can be something that you come back to after becoming a parent. I myself stepped away from the tourism industry when I first returned to work after having my son. But I did some corporate events for a few years, and I returned to the industry when the time was right with so many more skills that I'd learnt from my time in corporate events. The tourism industry can support relocation globally, nationally, lifestyle changes. You want to own your own business, you can do that. You want to work part-time, you want to work remotely, you want to work in person. There is no linear career path, straight lines, rule book to follow when it comes to tourism careers. Your moves in and out of tourism within the industry, they're all connected chapters. And I think if we do a better job of getting this message out there to young people or career changes, I think it will help with positioning the tourism industry as a real and valid career choice. And number six is that once we have people in the industry, once we've lured them in with the funness and the flexibility of the career, knowing what career options are out there, once we've got them in, we need we can do better at keeping them in. We can tell better stories about where their careers can take them. We need to do better at keeping them in. If our people arrive in our industry and they feel underpaid, under-supported, undertrained or invisible, overworked, they will leave. We will lose them. We can't market ourselves out of poor workplace experiences. Attracting the right people in matters. Retaining those people in, I would argue, matters more. We need people in the industry, developing their skills, understanding how the industry segments work together, like I've said before, with a good head on their shoulders and a good heart, doing the best for the industry, for our guests, for our communities, for our environment, for the planet. We need those people to stay in so we can continue to evolve and grow the industry over time. So working with our industry to ensure that training and onboarding of those new staff members is done in a manner where they feel ready for work, ready for their new role, rewarding them appropriately for doing their job and delivering a good service to the guests in what whatever form that is in their particular role. Providing opportunity for professional development and making sure that our staff and the people in our industry are getting the opportunity to develop themselves. We know that financial reward for doing a job only motivates an individual to a certain point. After that, it's their sense of purpose, sense of feeling part of a team, sense of making an impact to the mission of the organization. So we need to do better at retaining those people in the industry once they're in. So that's my two bobs. How do we get people into the industry? We show the breadth and diversity of roles that are available in the industry. We tell better stories about the career opportunities that exist. We make the pathways somewhat more visible. We talk to parents, we talk to teachers, we talk to career changers of all ages, not just young people, but people of all ages. We stop acting like tourism is a fun job before a real career, although it absolutely can be, don't get me wrong. And then we build workplaces that make people want to stay. Because like I said at the beginning, you can't choose a career you don't know exists. So that's my two Bobs on all of that. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on anything I've said today. Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree, maybe there's something I've overlooked here. Uh if you're still listening, thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate you and your ears. And I'd love it if you drop me a line and uh let me know that you got all the way to the end. It's great to know that I'm not yelling into the void. You can connect with me on LinkedIn if you'd like to. Just look me up, Carmen Bold. You can also check out my website, carmanbold.com. I send a weekly-ish newsletter where I do a bit of a roundup of interesting jobs that I've seen, interesting articles, or just kind of interesting things, really. So you can sign up to that at my website, and it's been a real pleasure recording this episode. So uh let's all remember that tourism matters, and I'll see you next week. Thanks for listening.