CHARLESTON, W.Va. –– In an effort to help the tourism industry find qualified employees, state officials rolled out the Tourism Works program Wednesday.
The free program is a partnership with the Blue Ridge Community and Technical College and can be done completely online.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey made the announcement from the state capitol with Secretary of Tourism Chelsea Ruby, Higher Education Policy Commission Chancellor Sarah Armstrong Tucker and Senior Officer of Technical & Adult Education Clinton Burch.
“Today is the first salvo in that backyard brawl; we are going to start growing our economy, our population, and our workforce,” Morrisey said. “Today, that starts with a new innovation called tourism works.”
The program is the only one of its type in the nation and is offered across middle schools, high schools and adult education centers across the state. The program is in time and on demand and offers micro-credentials on the way to becoming a certified “Tourism Ambassador.”
“It’s a true collaboration between our state higher education system, our community and technical colleges, the Department of Education, and the Governor’s Office,” Ruby said. “We are putting all these resources together so people can access free, high-quality training across the state.”
Tourism set a new economic impact high watermark of $8.7 billion spent that created $2.1 billion in wages for an estimated 21,000 jobs. Governor Morrisey expects tourism to continue to be a strong growing sector of the state economy.
“Visitor spending supports more than 60,000 jobs, and more than 73,000 are employed in the leisure and hospitality sectors in the state,” Morrisey said.
Ruby said the need for hospitality workers is evident. As the total economic impact grows to record levels, she said all the work is being done with workforce numbers from 2019.
“So, visitors are spending 23 percent more in the state than they were in 2019,” Ruby said. “But we are doing it with 97 percent of the workforce we had in 2019.”
By completing three of the Customer Service micro-credentials, students can earn “I’m a Local” merchandise, and the free hour of college credit can be earned by completing all 12 of the micro-credentialing classes. The classes range from empathy-driven service, greeting guests, event planning, strategic planning, and problem-solving.
“This is truly for everyone, and we are glad to see it moving forward and see it launch today,” Ruby said. “Governor, I want you to know that this makes us competitive.”