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EDUCATION RESPONDING
TO THE WORKFORCE Participants
CHALLENGES IN THE seeking solutions to
TOURISM INDUSTRY workforce challenges
through projects and
initiatives.
The tourism industry plays a significant role in employ-
ment and the attractiveness of Lapland. As the industry
develops, there is a need to improve education and
training to better match the needs of the workforce,
find solutions to create year-round jobs or facilitate
collaboration, and combine the expertise and roles of
educational institutions, businesses, municipalities,
development organisations, and employment services
into a collective force.
International labour has been recognized as essential for The Future of Snowsport Industry project organised
both basic services and tourism services in the future. a series of three events in Kittilä (November 20, 2023,
With the tourism volume continually increasing and a December 21, 2023, and January 9, 2024) that brought
significant portion of the workforce retiring in the com- together key stakeholders in the region to discuss
ing years, the need for international and skilled labour solving the previously mentioned challenges through a
becomes even more pronounced. To address this, quick joint project initiative. During these events, educational
actions are needed to ensure sufficient recruitment of institutions had the opportunity to share their existing
international and skilled labour and the development of activities, networks, and interests from their perspec-
international networks to facilitate labour mobility. tive. Other key stakeholders presented their needs for
skills development, to which educational institutions
Education institutions must be able to respond to the could offer solutions.
needs of the labour market by developing forecasting
data and creating flexible skills development solutions These events conveyed a shared desire and common
in collaboration with the business sector. Future pro- challenges. To address these challenges, stakeholders
fessions and job roles are expected to become more must enhance collaboration and develop agile and flexi-
fragmented and diversified, requiring more tailored ble operations and models to tackle workforce challeng-
and short-term training programs instead of traditional es effectively.
degree programs.
As a result of these events, educational institutions began
working on a new project aimed at aligning the region’s ed-
ucation offerings and content more closely with the needs
of the labour market. The project also aims to strengthen
collaboration among education providers, development
organisations, local businesses, and public employment
and business services to ensure a skilled workforce in the
ski resort and tourism industry in the future.
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