Tourism Season Arrives With Worker Demand Outpacing Visa Supply

For resort destinations like Mackinac Island, the availability of seasonal workers could decide whether local businesses are able to meet hiring needs for the busy summer months.

The northern Michigan community has a population of 11,000 but typically needs to bring in 5,000 workers for the visitors that arrive beginning in April each year.

“We’re up against it as far as the amount of people we can recruit locally,” said Tim Hygh, executive director of Mackinac Island Tourism.

For businesses in tourism, seafood processing, landscaping industries, among others, the release of 35,000 additional H-2B seasonal work visas by the Biden ...