What jobs can I do in travel and tourism?

Travel and tourism jobs generally include any job within the holiday market. Whether that be helping customers to plan for a holiday, source a great place to stay, help to keep holiday-makers safe and comfortable during their holiday, or even helping travel companies to source great accommodation, like hotels and villas, and secure exclusive prices.

Whatever your skills and interests, there’s almost certainly a job for you in travel and tourism.  If you love dealing with members of the public, and can stay cool under pressure, you may be suited to a customer service or managerial role with an airline, travel agency, hotel or tourist information centre. Meanwhile, working behind-the-scenes for a travel company or tourist board opens up even more roles in marketing, graphic design, product management and IT.

You may know instinctively where your passions lie, but it’s always worth getting work experience in your chosen field. Working as a rep in a holiday resort during the summer or ski season will quickly tell you whether you enjoy being on the front line, and you’ll learn no end of valuable skills in the process.

Certain jobs require specific training and qualifications, particularly for specialist roles like pilot or chef. A travel and tourism degree covers different disciplines, like management, marketing, business strategy and much more, usually with a chance to hear from experts and gain work experience. You can also break into the industry having completed A-levels in the subject, or take the apprenticeship route.

While qualifications lay the groundwork, what most companies want to see from applicants is energy and desire to learn, as many skills are gained on the job.

Travel agent: responsible for selling the destination and services of the company, a travel agent must be friendly, knowledgeable and love what they do.

As a travel agent, you are responsible for handling enquiries, sending out brochures and making bookings. There are normally regular fam trips to destinations too – at Sun-hat, for instance, our villa specialists travel to our resorts in the spring and autumn, so they can give clients detailed information about our properties.

On-site rep: as mentioned above, working as a student holiday rep during the holidays or on your gap year will give you a real insight into whether you want to go make it your full-time job. Recruitment for reps is all year round, so either contact a holiday company speculatively, or else look for vacancies online.

On call 24-hours a day (with rest days!), you will meet and greet customers, organise activities and handle any enquiries, from recommending restaurants to dealing with lost passports. Some rep jobs require little experience but plenty of enthusiasm, while others are far more specialist.

Product manager: you may not have encountered this job before – but it is the engine that powers a company like ours. Without a product manager, we’d have no villas to offer our customers and our business wouldn’t exist. Securing the best properties first, and agreeing a competitive rate, requires tenacity, enthusiasm and energy, along with a strong understanding of your customers and the destination.

Roles tend to be advertised on travel company websites, as well as on general jobs boards like Indeed or Monster.

Along with impeccable customer service skills, both in-person and on the phone, a caring and happy manner is essential, as is a calm and professional attitude. As with any job, it takes time to develop your knowledge and experience, so don’t be afraid to ask someone more senior if you are stuck.

More and more, travel and tourism jobs require good photography, writing and social media skills. Get as much practice as you can while studying by contributing to student publications, writing a blog or organising work experience with a relevant company. You never know, you may impress someone so much that they offer you a position!

Peter Jenkins is a holiday and travel expert, with over 35 years’ experience working in the travel industry and is the founder of Sun-hat Villas & Resorts. Peter has also worked for some of the biggest names in the holiday market, including Sovereign, Falcon and First Choice.

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