Finding the right seasonal hospitality staff to deliver great guest experiences
September 16, 2025
Finding the right candidates for seasonal employment takes time, effort and strategy. The key to standing out in the hospitality and tourism market is capturing attention. Are your job postings clear and targeted? Are you known as the employer of choice? Reaching the right talent from the start builds a solid pool of applicants for current and future hiring needs. Let’s explore actionable tips, strategies and successful advertising methods to help you attract quality talent to deliver the best guest experiences for your company.
Be an employer of choice
Showcasing your company and culture makes you stand out as an employer of choice in the hospitality industry. Your company’s reputation matters. First impressions matter. When hiring, you want a stand-out reputation with both active and passive job seekers.
Here’s how to make it happen:
Post early with details:
Post your job openings early and include as much detail as you can, such as job title, job responsibilities, qualifications, clear expectations and the benefits you offer.
Use titles and terms candidates will be familiar with like guest service associates, front-of-house supervisor or tourism specialists.
If the position offers opportunities for career growth, be sure to highlight them.
Guest experience:
Connect the role to the overall guest experience.
Explain how each seasonal position, whether it’s front desk agents, tour guides or banquet staff, contributes to creating memorable experiences for guests, making them feel like a valued member of the team.
Don’t overlook potential:
Sometimes, the best candidates aren’t always the most obvious ones.
Pay attention to their skills and ability to learn on the job.
Look beyond a resume or application and listen to the person during the interview.
Hire quickly:
Communication with prospective candidates on your hiring process and timeline is crucial.
Slow reviews and interviews may cost you great candidates.
Ensure your process moves quickly while still being thorough.
Streamline onboarding:
Strong onboarding with the tools and training specific to their role sets the tone for your new employee’s success. Make it seamless, welcoming and efficient.
Be sure an employee knows who to ask questions and has the resources to be successful. This helps them understand expectations and retain them if full-time work becomes available or you want to hire them in the future.
Create a positive environment:
A welcoming and inclusive workplace boosts morale and productivity.
Encourage teamwork and provide regular feedback to help seasonal hires feel valued and engaged.
Consider a mentorship program where you pair new seasonal employees with experienced staff members who can provide guidance and support.
Offer training and development:
Provide opportunities for skills development for all seasonal roles like bartending certification, customer service training, point of sale training, etc.
End-of-season considerations:
Assess your seasonal work goals and schedule exit interviews to gather feedback from all your employees, including the seasonal workers. This allows you to improve your future hiring process and address any issues or concerns.
Look at seasonal employees’ performance and potential to see if any might be a good fit for a full-time role with the company.
SOURCE: Mitratech
Types of seasonal candidates
Remember to look at all options for hospitality and tourism employees to fulfill the short-term needs of your seasonal hiring like housekeepers, security, cooks and more.
Here are some prospects to target with your advertising:
College students: Temporary work is appealing to college students as it matches their academic schedule.
Retirees: Reliable and experienced, retirees often return to the workforce for part-time or seasonal opportunities.
Stay-at-home parents: Parents looking for flexible work bring organization and multitasking skills to your company.
Teenagers: The right high schooler brings energy and enthusiasm and may also have friends looking for a job. You can also investigate youth and teen service groups for potential hiring.
Travelers: People who enjoy working in different locations for a season, especially those in resort or tourist areas.
Tips for effective recruitment strategies
Each seasonal hire directly impacts the quality of your guests’ stay, from their first impression at check-in to the last memory they take home. As you look to recruit the best candidates, you’ll need more than a job posting. You need a strategic approach to stand out.
Here are tips to get you started:
Forecast and start early: Whether you’re preparing for summer tourism at the lake or the winter ski season, planning your staffing needs in advance helps you avoid the stress of last-minute hiring. The earlier you start recruiting, the larger your talent pool becomes.
Review past strategies: Use what you’ve learned during past hiring seasons. What was successful? What wasn’t? Implement these insights into your advertising and hiring strategy.
Reconnect with past hires: Stay in touch with former seasonal employees to access a ready pool of qualified candidates or use them as a referral source for future hires. Your communication shows you value their work and appreciate them, even outside of the busy tourism season.
Offer perks and benefits: Competitive packages make your job openings more appealing. Offer appealing advantages like tips/gratuities, employee discounts, seasonal housing or free/discounted meals. Give employees a reason to do their best work when on the job.
Leverage your social media: Sharing hiring opportunities on your personal social media allows your followers to see the person behind the business, making it relatable and personal. Your friends and family are likely to be supportive and may spread the word to their networks.
Use job boards and fairs: Post seasonal job openings on hospitality and tourism specific job boards. Attend job fairs at local and regional college and university job fairs.
Employee referral program: Establish an employee referral program specific to seasonal roles with incentives to current employees who refer successful seasonal hires.
Advertising strategies to attract quality talent
Advertising for hospitality and tourism seasonal work helps you prepare for peak travel periods, maintain service standards, discover potential long-term team members and ensure a smooth guest experience.
Use these tactics to attract the right candidates:
Creative strategies: Position your company as an employer of choice and as a gateway to working in a top tourism destination. Highlight your location, along with unique strengths and qualities to draw in the right people. Craft job advertisements that speak directly to the preferences and priorities of your ideal candidates. Whether it’s emphasizing company culture or employee benefits, a message about what potential hires value most will significantly improve the success of your recruitment efforts.
Attention-grabbing headline: As the first thing a job seeker sees, make your headline clear and concise. Highlight the excitement of working in hospitality and tourism.
Eye-catching graphics: Use high-quality images and videos that resonate with your target audience. Showcase your resort, destination or the guest experiences employees can help create.
Consistent branding: Ensure your ad reflects your company’s brand identity through color schemes, logos and fonts while also showing the warm and welcoming feel of hospitality.
Clear layout: A well-organized ad guides the viewer’s eye to the info you want to highlight most and gets them to apply.
Highlight the experience: Emphasize the environment employees get to work in – beautiful settings and a fun atmosphere.
Testimonials and stories: Share quotes, videos or day-in-the-life stories from current employees about why they love working there.
Digital ads: Expand your reach by targeting the right candidates where they already are – online. Use display ads with compelling messages and engaging images to capture attention and increase quality applications.to promote your company while social media ads highlight your resort or destination culture. Make sure your ads are optimized for mobile and are tracked for performance.
Targeted advertising: Social media platforms, keyword search, retargeting and geofencing allow you to target the right audience and those most likely to apply. These techniques allow you to build visibility and generate interest with qualified potential employees who align with your company’s goals and culture.
Multichannel approach: Adopting a multichannel approach broadens your reach and attracts a diverse pool of applicants. Combining platforms such as print, social media and in-person hiring events allows you to cast a wide net while targeting those who are most likely to bring value to your team.
Choose the right platforms: Depending on your target audience, LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram are direct pathways to reach potential employees.
83% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within the first 24 hours of posting a job. It’s the platform for professional networking where you:
Share job postings and company updates.
Engage in industry discussions and share thought leadership content.
Use advanced search and features to reach potential candidates directly.
Who uses LinkedIn? People aged 25-34 make up a significant portion of LinkedIn’s user base at 47%. People ages 18-24 sit at 29%. Men make up 57%, with females at 43%.
Facebook’s wide reach and diverse audience make it a versatile tool. Similar to the idea of 6 degrees of separation, Facebook puts you only 3.5 degrees away from your ideal candidate. Make sure you:
Share detailed job postings and company updates.
Use Facebook groups related to your hospitality industry for targeted recruitment.
Use Facebook Live to host Q&A sessions about your company and open positions.
Who uses Facebook? The largest audience is men aged between 25 and 34, accounting for 19% of total potential reach. Men using Facebook between the ages of 18-24 make up 15%, while female users between the ages of 24-35 are responsible for 13%..
X
47% of recruiters use X for quick updates and engagement to:
Post job openings and source candidates.
Take part in relevant discussions and hashtags.
Follow and engage with industry influencers and potential candidates.
Who uses X? The United States has 100 million users, with 58% under the age of 35. The largest audience demographic, 30%, falls into the 25-34 age group, with 18-24 years following at 28%.
More than 100 million people watch Instagram Live every day, making it great for visually displaying your company’s culture with:
Behind-the-scenes photos and stories of your workplace.
Content such as employee videos and day-in-the-life posts.
Instagram Stories to provide daily glimpses into your company culture.
Who uses Instagram? With 2.4 billion monthly users, Instagram is popular, especially with younger audiences. Active Instagram user demographics: 18-24 at 27%; 25-34 at 28%; 35-44 at 19%; and 45-54 at 12%.
Forum Communications at a glance
With Forum Communications Company (FCC), you’ll quickly reach a pool of potential candidates with targeted recruitment marketing solutions. We make it as simple as possible to employ our multichannel recruitment solutions.
With the help of our recruitment experts, we’ll create out-of-the-box advertising strategies, engaging job listings, videos, brand journalism and more to target the right candidates. FCC offers support throughout the recruitment process. You will work directly with a recruitment consultant on media planning, ad placement, content creation, job fairs/events and more.
Finding the right people for your seasonal team is essential to keeping your company strong during peak tourism seasons. By highlighting your company culture, making the hiring process simple and using effective recruiting strategies, you’ll create a better experience for your applicants, your organization and ultimately, your guests. Plan ahead and implement multichannel advertising to attract top talent while building a solid foundation for future hiring needs.
Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter or download our advertising whitepapers for more insights like these delivered straight to your inbox. And follow us on LinkedIn for more valuable advertising trends and tips.