Listening to businesses
South of Scotland tourism businesses are encouraged to complete a short survey before 10th February 2025, sharing details about workforce challenges and skill gaps.
Complete the survey below to have your voice heard (deadline 10th February 09.00)
There will also be discussions on workforce development with the industry at the 14 Locally Led Destination Development meetings taking place across the South of Scotland through February 2025.
The anonymised, collated results from the survey and industry discussions will then be shared with the Deputy First Minister (DFM) at the Convention of the South of Scotland, with a working group established bringing together industry with Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Borders College, D&G College, Developing the Young Workforce, SOSE, Springboard, VisitScotland and others, to find tangible solutions to these challenges.
A plan will be agreed at the March Convention of the South of Scotland, chaired by the DFM, and we will then report annually back to the Convention, with businesses able to score whether progress is being made.
Context:
On the 25th April 2024, the SSDA hosted a multi-agency roundtable meeting looking at workforce development in the South of Scotland’s Visitor Economy, bringing together businesses and industry representatives, with SOSE, VisitScotland D&G Council, SB Council, SB College, D&G College, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), Springboard UK and the University of Glasgow. A shared vision was agreed and 13 challenges were identified. For each challenge, an initial set of actions was proposed, prioritising those areas where we have greatest impact, namely: improving the perception young people have of the industry and strengthening the vocational training available.
At the 28th October Convention of the South of Scotland with the Deputy First Minister, it was agreed that the SSDA would consult visitor economy businesses on workforce challenges and skills gap, to produce a report early in 2025 with clear recommendations which could be repeated annually to assess progress in addressing skill gaps in the sector.
On the 5th November it was announced that Center Parcs are planning to build their first holiday park in Scotland, creating 1,200 permanent, year round jobs in the Scottish Borders, as well as up to 800 in construction. This only increases the importance and urgency of developing the visitor economy workforce, inspiring young people into this key industry, and ensuring the workforce has the skills its needs for business to succeed.
