Workforce Development Is Everyone’s Job 

Since I have been working in the tourism industry, workforce development has been part of the conversation. Earlier in my career, much of the focus was on educating emerging professionals about career pathways in travel and tourism and demonstrating that you can build a meaningful career—and earn a livable wage—in this industry.

That is still important, but today, we are facing another challenge: we simply do not have enough people to fill the jobs our communities need.

I recently had a conversation with a Downtown BID manager who shared the challenges Main Street businesses in her community are facing. Some cannot find enough workers to stay open, forcing them to shorten their hours or reduce the number of days they operate each week.

I hear it closer to home, too. My daughter is working her way through college in the restaurant industry. She has told me how difficult it can be to keep restaurants fully staffed, particularly in the back of the house. A kitchen that needs seven people to operate may sometimes be running with only two.

These aren’t just employer problems. They affect the experience of the people who live in our communities and the visitors who come to enjoy them.

Workforce development can no longer be thought of simply as a government program that helps unemployed or underemployed individuals find work. It is work that all of us in tourism need to think about if we want thriving businesses and communities where people want to live, work and visit.

And the demographic trends tell us this challenge isn’t going away. A recent analysis reported by CBS News projects that the U.S. labor force could shrink by 2.7 million workers between 2030 and 2040. Baby Boomer retirements, lower birth rates and changes in immigration are all contributing to a fundamental shift in the available workforce.

Building a Stronger Tourism Workforce in New York State

As co-chair of the New York State Tourism Industry Association’s Workforce Development Committee, I have learned a lot about the challenges facing our industry. One of the most important realizations is that we can’t simply wait for the labor market to return to the way it used to be.

We need to approach workforce differently. Our committee’s work is focused on strengthening and expanding New York State’s tourism industry by building career pathways, enhancing employer capacity and connecting talent to opportunity across the state.

Our efforts are centered around four areas:

• workforce attraction
• community support and stewardship
• employer education and retention
• resource sharing

Over the past few years, that has taken several forms. We created a career pathways flyer that has been distributed through the New York State School Counselor Association and our member colleges and universities. We have hosted a virtual career forum, developed workforce resources on the NYSTIA website and launched @NYStourismcareers on Instagram.

Additionally, we advocated for the addition of a Workforce Development category to the annual New York State Tourism Excellence Awards.

In its inaugural year, three programs by Washington County, Visit Rochester and Warren County were recognized. What I love about these examples is how different they are. Together, they demonstrate that workforce development doesn’t have to mean creating one large workforce program. There are opportunities to make a difference throughout the employee journey; from attracting people to our communities, to helping them succeed once they get here, to giving them reasons to stay.

Attracting the Workforce: Washington County

Black Dog Designs, working in partnership with the Washington County Planning Department, took an asset the county already had—its tourism website—and expanded the way they thought about its purpose.

Their “Doing Business” webpages integrate workforce development directly into the tourism website, connecting residents, visitors and potential job seekers with information about key industries, career pathways, employers, education and training opportunities.

This example is especially interesting because it recognizes the connection between visiting a place and imagining yourself living there. Tourism organizations spend a lot of time telling the story of what makes our communities special. Why couldn’t some of that same storytelling help someone envision building a career and a life there?

The Washington County site highlights industries including manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism. It features local employers and connects people to education and training resources. It also tells the stories of actual businesses, their workplace cultures and opportunities for growth.

This is destination marketing, economic development and workforce attraction working together.

Developing the Workforce: Visit Rochester

Attracting workers is only part of the equation. We also need to equip the people who are already working in our industry with the tools to be successful.

Visit Rochester’s Frontline Toolkit is a great example. Frontline employees are some of the most important ambassadors a destination has. They’re answering questions at the hotel front desk, serving a table at a restaurant or helping someone at an attraction. Their interactions can shape how a visitor remembers an entire trip.

Visit Rochester created a simple, practical toolkit to help these employees deliver what they call a “ROC star” experience. The guide helps frontline employees start conversations with visitors, build their destination knowledge, offer alternatives, address accessibility and other visitor needs, and find additional resources and training.

What makes this example even more replicable is the investment. The toolkit was created internally, and 500 brochures and posters were printed for less than $1,000. Those materials were then distributed to visitor-facing businesses throughout Greater Rochester.

Workforce development doesn’t always require a huge budget. Sometimes it starts with asking, What would help our people do their jobs better?

Retaining and Valuing the Workforce: Warren County

Then there is retention. The Warren County example begins with a phrase that really stood out to me: retention is the new recruitment.

If the pool of available workers is shrinking, keeping good employees becomes just as important as finding new ones.

Liza Ochsendorf, Director of Workforce Development for Warren County, founded the annual Hospitality Workforce Celebration and Awards to recognize the people working in hospitality, tourism and recreation after a busy summer season.

The event brings together employees, business owners, international student workers and workforce development professionals to celebrate their industry and recognize employees nominated by their peers. In 2025, more than 350 hospitality workers representing 70 businesses participated.

Think about the message that sends to an employee: We see you. Your work matters. You are part of this community.

Warren County Workforce Development and Warren County Tourism collaborate on the event, while chambers of commerce and local businesses help promote it, encourage nominations and donate prizes. That collaboration may be one of the most important lessons of all three examples.

Workforce Development Takes All of Us

There isn’t one organization that can solve our workforce challenges. A tourism office can’t do it alone. Neither can an individual employer, a chamber of commerce, a college or a workforce development agency. But each one brings something to the table.

That is why our NYSTIA Workforce Development Committee encourages tourism professionals to connect with all of those local partners. Find out what they are already doing. Share what you are hearing from businesses. Look for the gaps. And then ask where you can work together.

The three programs recognized through this year’s Tourism Excellence Awards give us three places to start:

• How can we attract more people to our communities and introduce them to career opportunities?
• How can we develop and support the people already working in our industry?
• How can we retain and value the people we don’t want to lose?

You don’t have to solve the entire workforce challenge in your community. But you can identify one place where your organization can make a difference, and find the partners who can help you make it happen.

That is how we start building the tourism workforce our communities will need for the future.