BCBusiness

100 BCBusiness jULY/AUGUST 2018 ISTOCK accommodation available for them." That shortage is mostly thanks to landlords favouring vacation rentals over long-term tenants, Judas argues. "Consequently there isn't a place for employees to stay, and that's problematic." Judas also cites the clash between adventure tour- ism operators and industries such as forestry and min- ing over use of Crown land. "You have tenure holders in tourism that are often usurped by natural resource sectors," he says, calling for both sides to accommo- date each other. "One of our goals is to ensure that tourism is a part of every discussion when there are land use planning issues or taxation or other things that would impact our industry, which is largely made up of small-business operators." Environmentally and socially sustainable tourism is a hot topic, notes Marsha Walden, president and CEO of Destination BC. (That's good news, given a recent Australian study showing that the industry contrib- utes 8 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.) For B.C., it means "making sure that the products we have are meeting global expectations on the green front," Walden explains, "but also that the way we introduce and move tourists around our province meets social expectations of our own residents—that we continue to be a very welcoming environment because we're not overwhelming communities with too many tourists." Metro Vancouver welcomed a record 10.3 mil- lion overnight visitors last year, Tourism Vancouver reports, and there are plenty more on the way. By 2030, international tourist arrivals worldwide will reach 1.8 billion, according to the United Nations' World Tour- ism Organization, versus 940 million in 2010. "It spells enormous opportunity for the tourism industry, and particularly for British Columbia, which is so well positioned to capture two of the biggest trav- elling populations in the world, the Americans and the Chinese," Walden says. "And so we're in an enviable position, but we also need to manage how that impacts our province economically and socially." –N.R. I f you're greeted by a concierge with an Irish lilt when checking into a B.C. hotel, it may be thanks to Christine Willow. Last spring, Willow, partner at Chemistry Consulting Group and GT Hiring Solutions in Victoria, visited Irish colleges on behalf of BC Hotel Association members struggling with sea- sonal employment challenges. One reason the HR ¥rm chose Ireland is that its citizens qualify for a one-year International Experience Canada visa, which allows employers to bring in post-secondary students as part of their co-op work placement or post-graduates to get international experience. Ingrid Jarrett, GM and VP business development at the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos, also goes abroad in search of staˆ. Last November, she trav- elled to Australia, where she met with universities to develop internship programs. "My restaurant was closed 50 percent of the time last summer," laments Jarrett, who recruits from European hotel schools as well. "I had nobody to work." A labour market analysis by go2HR, the tourism industry's human resource organization, projects more than 100,000 tourism and hospitality-related job openings across the province between 2012 and 2020, and an estimated shortfall of about 14,000 workers to ¥ll them. Looking further ahead, the Canadian L A B O U R are you being served? As B.C.'s economy booms, hospitality sta are in short supply Metro Vancouver welcomed a record 10.3 million overnight visitors last year, Tourism Vancouver reports, and there are plenty more on the way. By 2030, international tourist arrivals worldwide will reach 1.8 billion

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