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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 moderated by SWT’s Matthew Ozuna and are free and open to all tourism stakeholders. All Skillshops are recorded and shared with registrants as well as made available to view on the SWT YouTube channel.

Upcoming Tourism Skillshops

Thursday, April 25, 2024: Creating Value-Added Experiences for Heritage Travelers

Cultural heritage tourism contributes billions of dollars to the global economy and allows visitors to experience the history, food, art, and other unique characteristics of a people and place. Heritage travelers tend to stay longer and spend more money than other travelers. So much then depends on the quality of products and services associated with cultural heritage tourism.

In this Tourism Skillshop webinar, attendees will learn how to create value-added experiences for heritage travelers. These carefully curated and authentic experiences should foster a greater appreciation and understanding of cultural heritage among visitors, usually in line with community-shared values and other tourism assets.

An expert panel of tourism practitioners will share their knowledge and experience and offer case studies, partnership opportunities, and other resources. The guest speakers for this webinar are Judy Walden of the Walden Mills Group, a community-based tourism consulting firm, and Marcy Montgomery, program director of the San Juan Islands Makers Guild. Marcy is also involved in the promotion and management of the Salish Sea Folk Arts Fest at Moran State Park.

>> Register for the webinar here

Contact Matthew Ozuna for inquiries about 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:

Browse All Recordings

An example of a Skillshop can be viewed below.