The tourism industry is a tough one to break into.
While there are many holiday makers from all over the country, Florida’s is by far the hardest-hit state.
“There’s a real shortage of people who are willing to travel to Florida, who can make a living in the tourism industry,” said Steve Bieler, president and CEO of the Florida Association of Tourism Companies.
“It’s not as though we have a shortage of vacationers, but there is a shortage.”
The shortage of skilled labor is the main reason tourism has suffered.
Florida is not alone.
Tourism experts say the shortage of workers is a bigger issue than ever.
The number of American workers is at its lowest level since records began.
In 2014, there were 1.5 million Americans employed in tourism, down by nearly 1 million from 2010.
That means there are fewer people in the country working to bring people back to visit.
“The recession has hurt tourism in a big way,” Bielar said.
“Our job is to make sure we’re making sure people have enough jobs to go back and do the things that make them feel happy again.”
The economy is also a big issue in Florida, too.
The tourism and lodging industries are struggling, and those industries have been hit hard by the recession.
“We have a really, really bad economy,” said Greg Purdy, a senior vice president at the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
“Florida has lost a lot of its manufacturing jobs.
Florida’s economy has been in a tailspin.”
Tourism is also one of the main jobs for people in Georgia, and that’s hurting that state too.
In the last five years, tourism has declined in Georgia by nearly 15 percent, according to the Georgia Chamber of Tourism.
Georgia is also losing a lot more jobs than other states, which is a big problem for the state’s tourism industry.
“Georgia has a really bad unemployment rate,” said Bielers chief of staff, Joe Bielero.
“I don’t think it’s a very good statistic, but it’s the unemployment rate that we’ve had since 2000.”
While tourism has been hurt by the downturn, Bieleri said it doesn’t mean Georgia isn’t the best place to visit in the world.
“A lot of our people who come from other states don’t like the weather, don’t have the weather to go to,” he said.
“[But] Georgia has a lot that’s different than Florida.”
And despite the economic woes, there is hope for Georgia.
“All of the problems that we’re having are going to be solved in the next year,” Bueler said.
He said tourism could be a major driver of job growth in Georgia.
And if tourism is going to thrive in Georgia and other states in the future, it needs to be better than it is right now.
“You don’t need to have a perfect tourism market,” Belser said, “but you can have a market that is thriving and the growth will be from the tourism sector.”