Charleston, West Virginia — Growth in the Mountain State's tourism industry requires a commensurate expansion of the corporate workforce, and the establishment of the first-ever Tourism Governor's School will help address just that.
State Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby joined Gov. Jim Justice at her regular press conference last Wednesday to announce the new Governor's School, which is scheduled to officially open this summer.
“You know, tourism is booming in the state and it's getting better and better, and we need to train our people,” Justice said. “These are great jobs and high-paying jobs, so we need to train people.”
Ruby said the industry is expected to create an explosion of new tourism jobs. He also predicted that over the next four years there will be 21,000 job openings a year, with about half of them being managerial positions with annual salaries of nearly $60,000.
However, Ruby said the growth in the tourism industry is happening faster than the growth in the tourism industry's workforce.
To address this issue, Ruby said the Governor's Tourism School was established to motivate young people to enter West Virginia's tourism industry and is part of the Department of Tourism's comprehensive workforce development program. Some said it was.
Ruby said this will be the first time in the state's history that a judicial administration will establish a school for tourism since the Governor's School began in 1984 as the Governor's School of the Arts.
“We have developed several other schools over the years, but I would argue to anyone that this Governor's School of Tourism will be the most fun,” she said. said.
Ruby said this will be a 10-day camp open to 9th and 10th graders from around the state.
She said they will visit every corner of the state and all the tourist destinations, including two national parks and many state parks.
Additionally, she said she plans to meet with people from all types of jobs in the tourism industry to give them an idea of how they operate.
“They're going to meet with wildlife biologists, people in the culinary industry, hoteliers, trail builders and people in the natural environment. When they go to the museum, they get a real sense of what it's like to work in West Virginia. You can taste it,” Ruby said.
The Governor's School for Tourism is hosted by West Virginia University and supported by the West Virginia Department of Education's Division of Instruction and Career Engagement.
The school will accept one first- or second-grader from each county, as well as one student from five charter schools in the state and one student from the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind.
Students must complete their application for admission to the Governor's School for Tourism by Friday, April 26th. Visit the West Virginia Department of Education's website to submit an application and learn more about the program.
