Vol. 1 No. 1 (2023): Transformational Experiences Beyond Borders: Partnership Development for Sustainable Futures
Research Session 5.1: Accessible Experience and Hospitality & Tourism Critical Experiences

Invisible until they’re gone: ‘Keystone’ occupations for sustainable visitor experiences

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  • Richard Robinson,
  • Shelagh Mooney,
  • Adam Stephen
Richard Robinson
The University of Queensland
Shelagh Mooney
Auckland University of Technology
Adam Stephen
Queensland Tourism Industry Council
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24135/7es.36

Published 2023-12-01

Keywords

  • HTEC,
  • labour and skills crisis,
  • destination,
  • keystone occupations

Copyright (c) 2024 Richard Robinson, Shelagh Mooney & dam Stephen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Authentic and unique hospitality, tourism, events and culinary experiences form a crucial part of visitors and travellers’ enjoyment and positive evaluation of a destination. This paper explores some of the workforce issues associated with creating authentic and unique visitor experiences. It highlights two essential components of providing positive visitor experiences - infrastructure, and a skilled tourism workforce. We introduce the emerging concept of ‘keystone occupations’. Using cases from across the Tasman we show how destinations depend on these critical occupations, especially as their skills are vital to fully functional infrastructure in mobilizing visitor experiences.

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