Somewhere right now, a lift operator is unpacking a duffel bag in staff housing. In a few weeks, they'll be the first local family a family meets after a long drive up the mountain. Come spring, the same story plays out on the coast: a new beach attendant, a rental shop clerk, a summer visitor center volunteer, all starting a job where visitors will treat them as the expert on day one.
That's the beautiful and slightly terrifying thing about seasonal tourism. The people who define your destination's busiest weeks are often the people who've been there the shortest time.
Every season, destinations, resorts, and their partners face the same puzzle: how do you get a fresh team confident, knowledgeable, and genuinely welcoming in days, not months, and then do it all again next year?
Here's how we think about it at Learn Tourism, and how we're helping destinations make seasonal training easy, efficient, and reusable.
Seasonal staff training is the onboarding and education that prepares temporary or returning workers (at ski resorts, beach communities, parks, attractions, festivals, and visitor centers) to do their jobs well and represent the destination with confidence. Good seasonal training goes beyond job tasks. It covers destination knowledge, hospitality skills, visitor safety messaging, local culture, and responsible-tourism expectations, all compressed into the short window before the season begins.
The best programs treat seasonal workers as what they really are: temporary ambassadors for the entire destination, not just employees of a single business.
If you've ever run a seasonal operation, this list will feel familiar:
The result is a lot of repeated effort for uneven results. A visitor might get a terrific recommendation from one employee and a shrug from the next.
Most seasonal training content is evergreen: your destination's story, geography, signature experiences, service standards, and safety messaging. Build that core once as an online course, then update the parts that change (new trail, new restaurant, new event calendar) each season.
Try this: Sort your current training materials into two piles: "true every year" and "changes every season." The first pile is your course foundation. The second pile is your annual refresh checklist.
Seasonal hires usually have time between accepting the job and their first shift. That's prime learning time. Self-paced online modules let new hires explore the destination, learn its stories, and get the basics down before they ever pick up a radio or a name badge.
Then your in-person orientation can focus on what only in-person can do: practicing scenarios, meeting the team, and walking the actual space.
Try this: Send the first module with the offer letter or welcome email. Make it short, fun, and destination-focused, like a "first look" at the place they're about to call home.
Seasonal schedules are unpredictable. Lessons should be short, mobile-friendly, and easy to pick up and put down. Think a five-minute video on the town's history, a quick scenario ("A guest asks where to take a toddler on a rainy afternoon. What do you suggest?"), and a reflection prompt, not a two-hour slideshow.
And don't forget language. If part of your seasonal workforce speaks English as a second language, offering training in their native languages isn't just a nice extra. It's how they actually learn.
Each employer will always teach its own procedures: how to run the lift, how to fit a rental boot, how to close out the register. What often gets missed is the shared layer: this is our destination, this is what makes it special, this is how we take care of it and the people who visit.
This is where a DMO can play a powerful role. One destination-wide seasonal course, offered free or at low cost to every partner business, gives every seasonal worker in town the same foundation. The ski school instructor, the shuttle driver, and the barista all know where the best sunset view is, how to explain the local leave-no-trace expectations, and who to call when a visitor needs help.
It's workforce development, partner value, and visitor experience all in one move.
Managers need to quickly see who has finished onboarding and who hasn't. Certificates and simple reporting make that easy and give seasonal workers something to be proud of (and to put on a résumé when the season ends).
A note on safety-critical roles: For roles such as beach patrol, ski patrol, and lifeguarding, destination training complements required safety certifications. It doesn't replace them. What it adds is the visitor-facing layer: local knowledge, consistent safety messaging, and the confidence to be a welcoming face for people who might be having the worst moment of their trip.
Ski and mountain resorts: Lift operators, ski school staff, rental techs, shuttle drivers, guest services, and village businesses all onboard at once. A shared mountain-and-town course means a guest gets the same warm, informed answer whether they ask at the lift or the coffee shop.
Beach and coastal communities: Beach attendants, patrol and lifeguard teams, rental shops, restaurant staff, and ambassadors can learn beach safety messaging, wildlife and dune etiquette, accessibility options, and local favorites before the summer rush.
Parks, lakes, and outdoor destinations: Seasonal rangers, outfitters, and guides can share consistent stewardship messages, so visitors hear "stay on the trail, and here's why" from everyone, not just the signs.
Festivals, events, and visitor centers: Volunteers and temporary staff can learn the essentials quickly and arrive ready to help.
Few places know seasonal tourism like the Tahoe region. Winter brings skiers to world-class mountain resorts, summer brings beachgoers, hikers, and paddlers, and every season brings new faces behind the counter, at the rental shop, and on the shuttle.
The Lake Tahoe & Truckee Destination Champion program shows what a shared, destination-wide foundation can look like. Led by the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Council in collaboration with regional chamber and tourism partners, it's a free, self-paced online course of about an hour that anyone who interacts with visitors can take, from hospitality and retail teams to recreation providers, frontline employees, volunteers, and residents. Learn Tourism provided the instructional design, course creation, and learning technology.
The course covers North Lake Tahoe, South Lake Tahoe, and Truckee, the cultural heritage of the Washoe people, sustainable recreation, visitor empathy, and how to handle challenging conversations. It mixes video, quizzes, community storytelling, and reflection, and regional partners can track participation and completion in real time.
The results so far:
Participants reported feeling more confident welcoming visitors and more aware of stewardship, and described putting it into action by encouraging responsible visitor behavior, supporting conservation, and promoting public transit and reusable water initiatives.
That's exactly the kind of foundation a ski resort, a rental shop, or a lakeside restaurant can hand to a new seasonal hire on day one. It's one hour, free, and the same for everyone, so a visitor hears a consistent message about caring for Tahoe whether they ask at the lift line, the gear counter, or the coffee shop.
Read the full Lake Tahoe & Truckee Destination Champion case study.
We work with 60+ destination partners and have supported more than 50,000 learners, and seasonal onboarding is one of the clearest places where online learning pays off. Here's what that looks like in practice:
Because pricing is all-inclusive and based on the size of the organization, not your seasonal headcount, a busy season doesn't come with a surprise invoice.
Gather your managers and ask each person to finish this sentence:
"By the end of their first week, every seasonal hire should be able to…"
Write down every answer. Circle the ones that are about the destination rather than a specific job. That circled list is the start of your seasonal training course, and possibly something every business in your destination could share.
What should seasonal staff training include?
Strong seasonal training combines job-specific skills from each employer with a shared destination foundation: local knowledge and stories, hospitality and service standards, visitor safety messaging, accessibility information, stewardship expectations, and contact information.
How long should seasonal onboarding take?
It depends on the role, but splitting it helps. Short self-paced lessons before arrival cover the basics of the destination, so the in-person orientation can focus on hands-on practice, team building, and site-specific procedures.
Can a DMO train seasonal workers who don't work for the DMO?
Yes, and it's one of the highest-impact things a DMO can do. A destination-wide seasonal course offered to partner businesses provides every frontline worker with the same foundation, strengthening partner relationships and creating a more consistent visitor experience. The Lake Tahoe & Truckee Destination Champion program is one example.
Does online training replace lifeguard or ski patrol certification?
No. Required safety and rescue certifications still apply. Destination training adds the visitor-facing layer, such as local knowledge, consistent safety messaging, and hospitality skills, on top of those certifications.
How do you train international or multilingual seasonal staff?
Offer self-paced lessons in the languages your workforce speaks, keep lessons short and visual, and use scenarios rooted in real visitor questions. Learn Tourism's platform supports 45 delivery languages.
How do you avoid rebuilding seasonal training every year?
Separate evergreen content (destination story, service standards, stewardship) from seasonal details (events, new businesses, operating changes). Build the evergreen core once and refresh the seasonal pieces before each cohort arrives.
At Learn Tourism, we help destinations design learning experiences that are Transformative, Engaging, and Accessible, for year-round teams, seasonal crews, partners, and entire communities. If your next season is already on the calendar, let's talk about how to get your seasonal team ready (and keep that training working for you season after season).
Stephen Ekstrom is the embodiment of a passionate lifelong learner and a seasoned professional in the tourism industry, serving as the CEO and founder of Learn Tourism | learntourism.org. With over 25 years of experience, he has cultivated a deep understanding of tourism development and education, driven by his commitment to advancing the industry and fostering sustainable economies. Stephen's insatiable curiosity and love of knowledge have made him a proud nerd, constantly seeking to expand his expertise and share his insights with others. Alongside his faithful furry companions, Rudy and Marjorie, he embraces the digital nomad lifestyle, traversing the globe and immersing himself in diverse cultures. A dedicated advocate for continuous improvement, Stephen is a professional member of the Association for Talent Development and a member of Skal International. Stephen holds prestigious certifications in Inclusive and Ethical Leadership from USF, AI Governance and Ethics from Brown University, Sustainable Business Strategy and Transforming Customer Experiences from Harvard Business School, and Sustainable Tourism Destination Management from Cornell.