Strong Growth Projected in BC's Tourism Industry

The two most recent labour market studies in BC have both come to the same conclusion—tourism in BC is a growth industry.

Wading through labour market projections can be as exciting and stimulating as reading the new tax act. However, both contain important information that business operators ignore at their peril.

The two most recent labour market studies in BC have both come to the same conclusion—tourism in BC is a growth industry. Although this is great news, it does pose some challenges, not the least of which is establishing a strategy to make sure that we have enough skilled people in the right place at the right time. The first step in this strategy is to understand what the projected requirements are.

The task force that was created in the fall of 2001 to look at the various HR issues facing the industry employed the services of CS/Resors Consulting, Ltd., Geoffery Bird from CAP College and Ruth Emery, a consulting economist to look at, amongst other things, labour market projections within the industry in BC. This report concluded that projected growth would result in a requirement for 84,000 new skilled workers by 2015. Growth plus normal attrition (retirements and deaths) will result in a significant requirement for a variety of occupations over the next several years. Some of the more significant findings are:

A complete listing of the top 20 ‘hot jobs’ can be found by downloading the Recruit, Retain & Train prepared by the task force.

The 2010 Winter Games HR Planning Committee commissioned Roslyn Kunin & Associates, Inc. to look at the labour demand in BC from the period 2003 to 2015. Their report, entitled 2010 Winter Games Labour Demand Analysis also paints a picture of high demand for positions in the tourism industry in BC. Although the numbers are different from the numbers quoted in the Task Force report (different time frame being reported, slightly different definition of what makes up the tourism industry etc.) they paint the same overall picture. This report concludes that the 2010 Winter Games will result in the creation of an additional 62,825 jobs in tourism-related sectors. Some of the occupations that will be most effected by the 2010 Winter Games will include:

Roslyn Kunin and Associates also prepared a report entitled 2010 Winter Games Labour Supply and Gap Analysis that looks at the supply side of the labour market and projects where the labour gaps will occur (i.e. where demand exceeds supply). Their conclusion is that, in general, there will not be a labour shortage for the projected openings. It is important to note, however, that there is a significant difference between having a sufficient labour pool to fill job openings and having a skilled labour force capable of performing the jobs in a competent manner.

The report indicated that Managers in Food Service and Accommodation will have 36% more openings than people available from the labour pool to fill them. A deficit of 8,601 for the whole period from 2003 to 2015.

The Roslyn and Kunin report also indicated that 4 out of every 10 tourism-related jobs created as a result of the 2010 Winter Games will be outside the Mainland/Southwest region of the province. It is estimated that tourism-related incremental growth outside this region will include 9,674 jobs in the Vancouver Island/Coast region, 6,966 openings in the Thompson/Okanagan region, 2,217 in the Kootenay region, 1,846 in the Cariboo and 2,318 in the rest of the province.

Both the Task Force report and the report prepared for the 2010 HR Planning Committee both paint a similar picture. Tourism is alive and well and is growing strong. There will be a lot of opportunity and challenges facing the industry as we prepare for the Olympics and beyond.