Ep. 33: The Belong Initiative in the Canadian Tourism Industry

In 2024, tourism was the fifth-largest industry in the world by revenue, and the largest industry globally by employment.

Here in Canada, tourism contributes $102 billion to the economy, and generates over 745,000 jobs in communities across the country.

A tourism industry report noted, more often than not, it’s in the front-line jobs where people who have a disability tend to be hired the most. And it’s often those front-line jobs where the biggest barriers to employment are.

The Beyond Barriers: Insights into Tourism Workplace Disability Inclusion found there’s a bit of a disconnect.

On the one hand, tourism employers have adopted inclusive hiring practices.

But there’s a lack of formal diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) training programs. And a lack of formal DEIA policies. There’s also a lack of professional development opportunities for employees who have a disability.

But the industry is working to change all this, with the “Belong” initiative.

Our two guests give us their perspectives on “Belong”…the current state of tourism sector workplace disability inclusion…and what “Belong” means for the future of the sector.

• Jasmine Qi — Director of Workforce Inclusion at Tourism HR Canada
• Moe Alameddine — The restaturateur who started Canada’s first dining-in-the-dark experience, in 2006, and has since employed over 100 people who have a visual impairment. He’s passionate about disability-inclusive employment in the tourism and hospitality sector.

SHOW NOTES

• Episode 33 transcript (PDF)
• Learn more about the “Belong” initiative
• Learn about the Breaking Down Barriers: Insights into Tourism Workplace Disability Inclusion report
• Learn about Dark Fork and the dining-in-the-dark experience
• Get in touch with Moe Alameddine for mentoring on making your tourism business more disability inclusive
• Get in touch with Jasmine Qi about the Belong initiative