Oregon Tourism Workforce Assessment

Like business leaders in many industries and states, stakeholders in Oregon’s tourism industry are interested in workforce-related issues and their effects on the industry overall. Travel Oregon hired ECOnorthwest and Program and Policy Insight to complete a workforce assessment to inform the conversation about workforce development for the tourism industry in Oregon. The study included four key components: a literature review to identify key themes in the industry; analysis of employment and wage data to quantify tourism trends; a stakeholder survey of employers and employees in the tourism industry in Oregon (that identified emerging trends and variation in experience); and key informant interviews to collect relevant insights on stakeholders’ perceptions about, and experience in, the tourism industry in Oregon. Quantitative and qualitative analyses synthesize these diverse data sources to address research questions posed by Travel Oregon and to identify opportunities for Travel Oregon to support the industry’s workforce. The workforce assessment provided Travel Oregon with a deeper understanding of employment trends and stakeholders’ perceptions about and experience in the tourism industry in Oregon. Its key findings help inform discussion and shape policymaking for workforce-related issues for the tourism industry in Oregon.