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Go with Tourism

  • < 100 employees

Jackson Flavall

My main area of responsibility is working with education providers across the Lower North Island to deliver our Education Programme and help motivate and inspire the next generation of Tourism and Hospitality workers

What's your job about?

Go with Tourism is all about growing and supporting the Tourism workforce in New Zealand. My main area of responsibility is working with education providers across the Lower North Island to deliver our Education Programme and help motivate and inspire the next generation of Tourism and Hospitality workers. A busy day for me may look like hitting the road in the morning to get to a school a couple of hours away. After presenting a few classroom sessions using Virtual Reality equipment to look at the future of tourism, it’s on to finding a place to check my emails and do some general admin tasks. A quick video meeting on Teams, to discuss work in progress, then a bit of time spent working on some interactive website content for our jobseeker and student users. It’s a pretty cool role but it didn’t actually exist until a year ago! It’s not what students first think of when they think of jobs in Tourism but I’m lucky in that it allows me to meet loads of amazing people who are passionate about working in the industry. I’m able to plan my weeks as I want and I may be in Wellington one week and Hawkes Bay the next – getting to see some amazing parts of Aoteroa.

What's your background?

I grew up on the Kapiti Coast and moved to Wellington to study at Victoria University. I was lacking direction and considered a gap year in Argentina after High School but decided on studying Tourism Management at University, instead. Part-time work as a Kitchen Hand soon turned into full-time hours in the kitchen and I also spent time working in Australia. While living at a Backpacker’s for a month, I saw other people struggle to find work but the huge demand for Chefs meant I had the ability to choose where I wanted to work and was guaranteed an income. I got my current role in Tourism during the lockdown in 2020. People would probably laugh if you told them a Chef could get a role in Tourism during a global pandemic but Go with Tourism is all about representing the wider Tourism industry and was keen to take on team members will skills across all of the 9 sectors – including Food & Beverage. My Knowledge of the industry, hospitality experience and soft skills were contributors to why I got the job but there is no magic formula for an ideal employee.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes, you definitely could! Many people don’t start off working in Tourism but end up here because of the sheer size and diversity of the industry. People skills and the right mindset are important for most jobs and are a great place to start. For my role, networking, organisation and the ability to communicate with a range of different stakeholders is important. A basic understanding of website development and databases has also been useful to ensure we’re able to take our offerings online; vital at a time when a lot of people have been unable to travel or interact in person.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

While I regularly talk in front of large class groups, there are one-on-one conversations with some students where I get to see a lightbulb moment, which is what I really love about my job. Answering and responding to the “I never realised Tourism included that!”, That’s my dream job!” and “How can I do that?” questions is my favourite test. Hopefully, Tourism is something that the students then want to tell their friends and family about and explore as part of their own career path.

What are the limitations of your job?

There are two sides to every coin.

I came from a background working in kitchens that were fast-paced and all about working together. You always knew what had to be done and would just get on with it. In my current role, I have limited in-person contact with the rest of the team and operate more independently. It’s been a learning curve but I’m confident now at making decisions myself. As my position was a newly created role, there also isn’t a check sheet or training manual to rely on. Learning how to delegate your time when working remotely is a challenge but also a skill that will stand me in good stead in future.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student

  • Learning shouldn’t stop after university! Take a free online course, learn a language, try something new.
  • You will get new interests as you get older, explore them and don’t stick to what you’ve always done.
  • Trying something new and not succeeding is better than not trying at all.