5 Types of Tourism Jobs

Tourism is a vast industry that touches every corner of our province, and it’s filled with people who are devoted to creating amazing experiences. Tourism spending supports more than 25,000 jobs encompassing a wide range of positions from entry to level to management and executive leadership.

Whether you’re starting out in tourism or wanting to move into a new industry, here are five types of tourism jobs that may surprise you.

Do you feel most at home surrounded by trees, waterways and wildlife? If the great outdoors calls to you, adventure-enabling roles in tourism might be your dream job. These positions let you share Manitoba’s natural wonders with visitors, helping them connect with the beauty and thrill of the outdoors.

Whether you’re guiding people on breathtaking eco-tours, maintaining trails that lead to unforgettable vistas or working in parks to preserve our landscapes, you can play a vital role in creating meaningful experiences. If you’re ready to turn your love for the outdoors into a career, there’s no shortage of opportunities waiting for you.

Outdoor Adventure Guides & Eco Guides

From guiding visitors through the arctic tundra on a polar bear viewing expedition to showing guests how to cast the perfect line as a fishing guide, these roles are all about sharing your skills and creating opportunities for guests to connect with nature. Work as an outdoor adventure guide is often seasonal in nature and the hours can differ from your typical 9-to-5 but it also means working in scenic places with incredible views.

Where to Work: In Manitoba, you’ll find these jobs with adventure tourism operators like Churchill Wild, Frontiers North Adventures, Lazy Bear Expeditions, Bakers Narrows Lodge, Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge and organizations like FortWhyte Alive, Manitoba Parks and Parks Canada.

How to Find These Jobs: Start a conversation with an adventure tourism operator. They’ll be able to share what kind of certifications or experience you might need or know of someone who is hiring in the near future. You can also search “tourism” on job sites like Indeed.com or visit the Manitoba Tourism Education Council’s (MTEC) job board. Typically you’ll see these jobs posted in January or February as operators start staffing for the upcoming tourism season. Some locations like Churchill hire adventure guides year-round.

Career Pathways: Want to turn your adventure tourism job into a career? Use this pathway resource to build out a career plan that works for you.

National and Provincial Parks Staff

Manitoba Parks and Parks Canada routinely hire for a wide range of roles such as Program Specialists, Activity Coordinators, Park Interpreters, Park Attendants, Trail Maintenance Crews and Clerical and Administrative Officers who support corporate services.

Many of these jobs are career opportunities that require education, training and experience. Seasonal jobs like Park Attendants, Interpreters and Green Team Youth Employment are a great way to gain experience. You’ll learn about the important role parks play in our economy and quality of life living in Manitoba and gain new skills to help you grow in your career.

Where to Work: These jobs are primarily with Manitoba Parks, Parks Canada, the City of Winnipeg and other local communities where they have established park programs.

How to Find These Jobs: Check Manitoba Parks, Parks Canada, City of Winnipeg job sites for these types of jobs. These jobs may be posted on Indeed.com or MTEC’s job board, and may be available as early as December through February for the upcoming spring and summer seasons.

Maybe the great indoors are more your vibe? You’re in luck—there are countless ways to make a difference creating memorable moments for visitors and locals alike. In these experience curator roles, you reflect the heart of Manitoba’s welcoming spirit, ensuring every interaction leaves a lasting impression.

From guiding guests through museums and cultural attractions to crafting cozy stays at hotels or unforgettable moments at sporting events, these roles focus on the little details that make big memories. If you’re passionate about connecting with others and creating a sense of warmth and belonging, this might just be your perfect fit.

Museum, Gallery, City Tour & Cultural Guides

Tour guides are a common role in the tourism industry. As a guide, your role is to accompany guests as they visit an attraction or destination and provide information, storytelling and answer questions about the experience.

Cultural guides offer tours of heritage sites or cultural places of interest including Lower Fort Garry or Saint-Boniface, Winnipeg’s French neighbourhood. Cultural tour guides often conduct the tour in French, Manitoba’s official second language. Indigenous culture tours are a growing area of tourism driving the need for Indigenous culture tour guides.

Year-round opportunities are available as well as seasonal employment perfect for post-secondary students looking for a summer job. Depending on the type of job either secondary or post-secondary education may be required.

Where to Work: Tour companies like Fehr-Way Tours, Heartland International Travel & Tours, Winnipeg Trolley Company, Ȏ Tours, Tourisme Riel, Assiniboine Park, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Royal Canadian Mint, Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Exchange District BIZ, Downtown BIZ, WestEnd BIZ, SquarePeg Tours and more. Where there’s a tour, there’s a tour guide.

How to Find These Jobs: Check company webpages for a career or job opportunities page as well as Indeed.com by searching “tour guide” or “guide”, or MTEC’s job board. Discover Indigenous Tourism is a job site connecting Indigenous talent with tourism jobs. You can also find many of these organizations on LinkedIn. Follow them to learn more about what they do, how they work and when they might be hiring next.

Career Pathways: Want to build a career in cultural tourism? Use this pathway resource to build out a career plan that works for you.

Guest Experiences

Roles in guest experiences can take on many forms. Most people often think these jobs are only found in hotels or other types of accommodations. Guest experience roles can also be found at sporting events or experience-based offerings like spas and resorts.

Roles in this category can be temporary, seasonal, part-time or full-time—essentially there’s a job opportunity that can fit nearly any schedule.

Where to Work: In the accommodation sector, guest services, front desk, concierges, room attendants and general managers are typical roles. Many hotel professionals start their career in guest services or as front desk attendants and work their way up to management. The Hotel Association of Canada has resources and testimonial videos from hotel workers to shed some light on hotel career paths.

Sporting teams like the Winnipeg Goldeyes, Winnipeg Sea Bears and the Winnipeg Jets (owned by True North Sports & Entertainment) often hire post-secondary students to help bring energy and excitement to home games. You could be a mascot performer or help with contest giveaways all while engaging with fans at your favourite sporting events.

Wellness tourism is on the rise and experience roles like “Rituals Manager” are becoming more common. These types of roles are responsible for ensuring guests have a quality experience whether it’s the Aufguss at Thermëa or a float therapy session at FLOAT.Calm.

How to Find These Jobs: Check company webpages for a career or job opportunities page as well as Indeed.com or the MTEC job board. Many of these organizations have profiles on LinkedIn and may post job openings there.

Career Pathways: Want to build a career in guest experiences? Use this pathway resource to build out a career plan that works for you.

Travel Counsellors

Do you love sharing travel tips and helping people plan their adventures? Working as a travel counsellor may be for you. These roles are often the front line of welcome for visitors as they tend to work out of visitor information, recreation or city/town centres. Some centres operate seasonally while others are open year-round.

Where to Work: Travel Manitoba operates visitor information centres alongside the Boissevain Tourism Information Centre, Riverbank Discovery Centre, Russell Visitor Centre, Churchill Visitor Centre, Parks Canada Visitor Centres, Heritage North Museum and the Lake Winnipeg Visitor Centre. You can also find similar roles with travel agencies and companies.

How to Find These Jobs: Check company webpages for career or job opportunities as well as Indeed.com or the MTEC job board. Reach out directly to a centre if you’re interested in working with them to find out when they might be hiring next.

Is your passion for food and drink matched only by your creativity in the kitchen or behind the bar? Tourism offers a feast of opportunities for those who thrive in culinary spaces, from crafting unforgettable meals to curating unique dining experiences.

Whether you’re a server creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere, a bartender shaking up signature cocktails or a chef turning local ingredients into works of art, the culinary world is full of ways to make people smile.

Servers, Bartenders and Restaurant Managers

Working in the service industry as servers and bartenders or managers comes with the benefit of a flexible work schedule ranging from seasonal and year-round to part-time and full-time roles. Another perk of these roles includes the possibility of gratuities (tips) and discounts on meals when you work. There are also opportunities to advance within a restaurant or company that owns several restaurants. Many food and beverage managers start out as servers or bartenders gaining experience while on the job.

Where to Work: Servers and bartenders are employed in restaurants, hotels, resorts, fishing and hunting lodges, private clubs, events and convention centres (banquet servers), with catering companies and more.

How to Find These Jobs: These types of jobs can be found on Indeed.com, MTEC and Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association job boards.

Kitchen Helpers, Line Cooks and Executive Chefs

Kitchen helpers, line cooks and executive chefs benefit from many of the same perks as servers and bartenders—flexible schedules with part-time and full-time opportunities as well as seasonal or year-round positions. These roles involve food preparation and cooking activities, giving creative types the opportunity to show off their talent through the art of food.

Where to Work: Kitchen helpers, line cooks and chefs are employed in restaurants, hotels, resorts, fishing and hunting lodges, private clubs, events and convention centres, with catering companies and more.

How to Find These Jobs: These types of jobs can be found on Indeed.com, MTEC and Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association job boards.

Career Pathways: Want to build a career in restaurants? Use this pathway resource to build out a career plan that works for you.

Do you light up at the thought of planning, organizing and bringing people together? As an event planner extraordinaire, you’ll help turn visions into reality, creating moments that people will talk about for years to come.

Whether it’s coordinating gala dinners, vibrant festivals or running high-energy sporting events, your role is at the heart of the action. For the tech-savvy, opportunities in audio-visual production ensure every event is captured and runs seamlessly. If you’re the kind of person who loves working with teams and turning chaos into magic, these behind-the-scenes roles are as rewarding as they are exciting.

Event Coordinators, Planners and Managers

Event coordinators, planners, and managers play a pivotal role in the tourism industry by orchestrating memorable experiences that bring people together. These professionals oversee every aspect of event planning, from conceptualizing themes and managing budgets to coordinating logistics such as venue selection, vendor contracts and on-site operations. Their ability to juggle multiple tasks, adapt to unforeseen challenges and collaborate with diverse stakeholders makes them essential to creating vibrant and engaging tourism experiences that showcase a destination's unique appeal.

Audio-Visual Production Roles

Audio-visual professionals at convention centres, festivals and event companies are the technical support of live experiences, ensuring every sound, image and light enhances the event’s impact. These roles include setting up and operating sound systems, projectors, lighting rigs and video displays, as well as troubleshooting technical issues on the spot. Whether it’s a keynote presentation, a live concert or a multi-day conference, they work closely with event organizers to bring their creative vision to life.

Where to Work: When you work in events you can find employment with a wide variety of jobs and organizations. Some work for professional event planning companies, as freelance/contract event planners, at a venue such as the RBC Convention Centre, Delta Hotel, Victoria Inn Hotel & Convention Centre, Canada Life Centre, Centennial Concert Hall or for an organization that holds many events like the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Winnipeg Jazz Festival and many other non-profit groups.

How to Find These Jobs: These types of jobs can be found on Indeed.com, MTEC and on company websites such as Encore and RBC Convention Centre.

Career Pathways: Want to build a career in event management? Use this pathway resource for event management or this resource for audio-visual production to build out a career plan that works for you.

Are you someone who thrives on making things run smoothly, no matter how complex the task? Behind every incredible tourism experience is a team of professionals who keep the gears turning.

From research analysts uncovering the data that drives decisions to information technology (IT) specialists managing booking systems and websites, this group makes sure everything is on point. With roles in research, accounting, finance and IT, you can help grow Manitoba’s tourism industry from the inside out.

Where to Work: Careers in research, accounting, finance and IT offer opportunities across a range of organizations that support Manitoba's vibrant tourism industry. You might work with destination marketing organizations like Travel Manitoba, accommodations like the Fort Garry Hotel Conference Centre and Spa or iconic attractions such as Assiniboine Park Zoo or The Forks. For IT specialists, opportunities could include managing booking systems for hotels and event venues, developing user-friendly websites for tourism businesses or maintaining the tech infrastructure for internal teams at an organization.

How to Find These Jobs: These types of jobs can be found on Indeed.com, MTEC and with role-specific associations like the Chartered Professional Accountants of Manitoba website.