Tourism Skillshop
The Tourism Skillshop webinar series is one of many educational programs from State of Washington Tourism (SWT). The Tourism Skillshop launched in April 2022 and was created to engage with colleagues across the tourism sector and broaden their industry knowledge, skills, and network.
Each webinar highlights a specific issue or skill for tourism professionals to discuss with industry experts. SWT hosts these live webinars on the third or fourth Thursday of every month from 10 – 11 a.m. These webinars are free and open to all tourism stakeholders. The webinars are recorded and shared with registrants as well as made available to view on the SWT YouTube channel.
Upcoming Tourism Skillshops
May 25, 2023: Destination Management Techniques to Address Overcrowding
The May webinar will examine destination management techniques to mitigate overcrowding. Overcrowding is a major concern for popular attractions and destinations across Washington. It puts strain on the tourism ecosystem, resulting in environmental damage, overloaded infrastructure, and alienated residents. A combination of tourism stakeholders and destination management techniques is necessary to address overcrowding and strive for sustainability.
Attendees will hear from Emily Reed of the Columbia Gorge Tourism Alliance, Tommy Farris of Olympic Hiking Co., and Rachel Collins of the National Park Service as they discuss capacity, visitor dispersal, seasonality, and diversifying tourism offerings.
Contact Matthew Ozuna for inquiries pertaining to the Tourism Skillshop. Sign up for the Industry Update newsletter and follow SWT on LinkedIn to register for upcoming Skillshops.
Past Tourism Skillshops
In 2022, SWT hosted eight webinars with a combined 504 registrants. Topics covered everything from familiarization tours to grant writing and website design. The Tourism Skillshop series kicked off with a webinar about familiarization tours. Other topics covered in 2022 were:
- Festivals and Events
- SEO
- TREAD Map App
- Trails and Passports
- Sustainable Businesses and The Responsible Traveler
- Grant Writing
- Website Design
An example of a Skillshop can be viewed below.