The Dean of Adventure, Culinary Arts and Tourism at Thompson Rivers University says it is a good time for people to consider a career in tourism.

Douglas Booth says there is a shortage of suitable candidates to work in tourism related jobs in the Kamloops area.

“From guards accountants to chefs to room service to meeting people at reception. You take a resort, the range of skills that are needed and the range of jobs and employment opportunities that are there are just absolutely astronomical,” he told NL News. “There are tremendous opportunities for people to come into the industry.”

“Obviously, most people will be starting in the introductory jobs, you know the front of house stuff etc. But yeah, there are great opportunities to move through the ranks, particularly in the Kamloops area.”

Booth says his department has about 150 graduates each year, some of whom stay back in the Kamloops area. He notes some employers are now trying to attract workers by offering more benefits and more flexibility, as COVID-19, has made things worse, with Booth calling the situation dire.

“I don’t think people understand how big the tourism industry is in Kamloops and how big some of the players are,” he added. “There are small businesses, and of course there are all the hotels and restaurants. Tourism Kamloops is becoming a really, really energetic association in Kamloops.”

Kamloops Chamber of Commerce President, Dan Carroll, previously told NL News that with B.C.’s restart plan underway, there is optimism that the labour issues will improve at least to where things were pre-COVID.

“The Chamber has been working for example with Thompson Rivers University to figure out how we can harness that great facility and all of the talent that goes through TRU to see if we can get some of that talent to stick here in Kamloops,” he added.