NZ needs workforce worthy of tourism aspirations – Grow Tourism’s Dykman

10th July 2023 By Paul Yandall | paul@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker

New Zealand needs a tourism workforce to match the sector’s ambitions, says Grow Tourism co-founder Alex Dykman.

Dykman and Tash McGill’s online learning platform for the tourism and hospitality industries launched its core 24-module curriculum last week aimed at professionals from entry-level to senior. The initiative went live in April.

“We talk so much about attracting the right type of visitor to build the future of tourism that New Zealand aspires to,” said Dykman, who also owns tourism marketing agency Maverick Digital.

“I’d love to change the conversation to how we are delivering the type of tourism experiences that attracts that type of visitor. And delivery obviously comes with workforce development, and that’s what Grow Tourism is in a nutshell.”

Grow Tourism has onboarded 100 learners since its launch in April, with a selection of free modules and subscription options for individuals and a tiered pricing plan for groups starting at $49 per person per month for 4-24 learners, and reducing to $41 per person per month for large group.

“The modules are across entry, middle and senior level of all of our high-value tourism pillars, so it’s a really complete learning experience,” Dykman said.

“This is just the beginning. We’ll be adding modules across all facets of tourism and hospitality as we go with a couple of modules dropping every month to re-engage learners and make it clear that the curriculum is growing, that it’s not just static.”

Modules take 2-4 hours to complete and primarily use case studies supported by organisations such as Tourism Industry Aotearoa, Hobbiton Movie Set, Ziptrek Ecotours, Kapiti Island Nature Tours, Redwoods Treewalk, Rotorua Canopy Tours, Waitangi Treaty Grounds, and iFLY Queenstown.

Industry leaders including Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Steve Armitage, Tourism Talent’s Jason Hill, and former TIA boss Chris Roberts also lead modules.

McGill said the modules were designed with industry best practice in mind and the curriculum built around case studies of leading operators.

“We’re staying closely connected to some of our best-performing and best-operating tourism and hospitality businesses,” she said.

“The case study approach that we have and the way that we’re working with those best practices is really what gives Grow Tourism its unique credibility within the industry space. It doesn’t have to follow the same linear kind of journey that traditional education or training might follow.

“We’re able to kind of extract the goodness and the gold from our best-performing businesses and then share that directly with the rest of the industry so that everybody is able to level up.”