Hoodoo Adventures, Quails’ Gate Estate Winery and The Vibrant Vine are just a few Okanagan businesses taking part in an upcoming job fair aimed at promoting employment in the tourism industry.
The event, a joint pilot project between the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) and go2HR, will be held on March 15 at the Holiday Inn Express in Kelowna, is being billed by organizers as the largest interactive tourism and hospitality career fair in the region
Joyce Lam, manager of marketing and communications with go2HR, says the concept of having a tourism-based job fair is two-pronged — to help employers meet their growing need for more employees as the industry continues to boom, and to encourage a wide variety of people to consider employment in tourism.
So far, four employers have signed on for the job fair.
“Tourism is a growing industry, so with more jobs available, businesses are struggling to fill them,” Lam said.
“We think some of that is a result of a lack of information out there about what is available. This job fair mitigates that by putting all the information in one place.”
Lam said the all-day event will be open to the general public and will feature a stage with live demonstrations by local industry professionals. Resumes will be accepted by potential employers and on-site job interviews will be done.
The job fair will be held on March 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express in Kelowna. For employers there is an early bird sign-up fee of $275 before Feb. 16 and $325 after that. There is no fee for job seekers to attend.