Career in Travel and Tourism: The desire to explore the unknown and the unseen!

Being an industry so diverse and assorted in nature, a career in Travel and Tourism would indeed proffer an enduring opportunity fit for vibrant and enthusiastic folks hankering after the same. Vivid and vivacious individuals craving to put their education and expertise in a domain that is as exciting and varied can definitely consider this as a great career option to pull off!

Pursuing a Career in Travel and Tourism would revolve around making traveling an enriching and pleasant experience for folks by providing quality services. If one possesses a pleasant personality, excellent language, communication skills and knowledge about travel through personal experience this is the right track to go on.

Forecasting a future so bright, one can explore career prospects at all levels of this career. From operational level to executive level, one can unearth possibilities and probabilities for acquiring solid training, knowledge and skill development along with boundless career growth. Moreover, a Career in Travel and Tourism would advance an environment unique enough for individuals aspiring to start a business of their own.

The Career Prospects:

Career options in the Travel and Tourism domain are varied and tremendous. To name a few:

• Travel Agencies: These centres around facilitating travel and other services for all individuals traveling for vacations or business purposes. Providing information about the destination, hotel ratings, the cheapest and the fastest mode of transport, visas, foreign exchange etc. is the job of a travel agent.

• Tourism Department: This department consists of:

1. Reservation and counter staff
2. Sales and marketing staff
3. Tour planners
4. Tour guides
5. Information assistants
6. Officers in the Directorate and Department of tourism

These officers for the Directorate and Department of tourism are chosen from the civil services and their job is to promote and plan tourism.

• Hotels: Hotels provide travelers with food and accommodation services. This service industry requires skilled and professional individuals and its manpower requirements are vast. Jobs related to front office, operations, housekeeping, food and beverages, accounting, management and public relations are available.
• Transport: Transport refers to means of traveling from one place to another. Air, railways, road and sea are the basic categories that transport is divided into.
• Airlines: This sector of the travel and tourism industry is in great demand. The ground staff and the airlines need smart and presentable professionals with a degree in hotel management or travel and tourism. Traffic assistants, reservation and counter staff, air hostess & flight pursuers, sales and marketing staff and people to provide customer services are all required. Airlines like Indian Airlines, Emirates, British Airways and Air India pay attractive salaries and provide a number of added benefits too.

• Tour operators: These individuals organize tours and manage travel and stay of their clients. They conduct tours to known tourist attractions and some of them help the tourists indulge in adventure sports like river rafting and rock climbing.
• Holiday consultants: This is a relatively new career option in the travel and tourism industry. These professionals provide all the information to their clients. They sell the holiday, plan the itenary, make the travel plan, book the tickets and provide all the other details which are required.
• Banks: Banks require people to assist tourists and travelers on foreign exchange. Usually MBA professionals are preferred for this job. Banks help in hotel and ticket bookings also.

Career levels and Opportunities:

For those longing to pursue a career in travel and tourism, here's a snapshot of career levels and opportunities:

1. Operational Positions: These usually involve direct contact with tourists and are often the first step in a lifetime career namely:

• Ski Repair Technician
• Bartender
• Concierge
• Adventure Tour Guide
• Cook
• Sales Coordinator

2. Supervisory Positions: These roles hire, manage, motivate and schedule operational positions as well as provide key functional expertise. Sample jobs include:

• Guest Services Supervisor
• Ski Patrol Supervisor
• Event Planner
• Restaurant Shift Supervisor
• Team Leader Accounting
• Maintenance Supervisor

3. Management Positions: These positions involve budgeting, analysis, planning and change management in order to help employees and the organization to grow and prosper. Like :

• Director of Sales and Marketing
• Head Chef
• Ski Area Manager
• Rooms Division Manager
• Adventure Company Owner
• Attractions Operations Manager

4. Executives :Executives are often responsible for several departments or divisions and usually work at a regional, national or international level along with being responsible for strategic planning and possessing significant budget responsibility, namely:

• Hotel General Manager
• Regional Manager of Restaurant Chain
• Vice President of Human Resources
• Tour Company President
• Convention Centre Executive Director
• CEO of Destination Marketing Organization (e.g. Tourism British Columbia)

Entailed attributes:
To track a career in Travel and Tourism, one must have an access to a wide range of information, quick access to travel and transportation data and should know the art of blending business expertise with diplomacy. An aspirant must have: 

• Personal knowledge and experience of travel to major tourist destinations
• Knowledge of accommodation, places of interest and local customs
• Effective communication skills and presentation skills
• Language skills
• Enthusiasm to interact with people, and social etiquettes
• Business tactics, good memory and a positive attitude
• Aptitude for figure work
• An outgoing, friendly personality and ability to handle people
• Organizing ability, decisions- making skills, Problem solving skills & Team work.
• A passion for travel & willingness to work hard, long hours, on weekends and holidays

Courses in Travel and Tourism:

To pursue a career in Travel and Tourism, students can avail any of the following courses accessible in the country.

• Bachelors Degree course in Airlines, Tourism & Hospitality Management
• Bachelor of Tourism Administration
• Bachelor of Tourism Studies
• BTM (Hons)
• PG diploma course in Tourism Studies
• Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Tourism & Travel)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Tourism & Leisure)
• PG program in Travel and Tourism
• Master of Tourism Administration
• Master of Business Administration in Tourism and Hospitality Management
• Postgraduate diploma course in Tourism Management
• M.A. in Tourism Management
• Master of Tourism Management

Remuneration:
Jobs in the domain of travel and tourism offer good remuneration and perquisites, which include free travel for employees and their families. Salaries may vary within the industry and are higher in foreign airlines and agencies.

Basic pay scales at different levels in the field of travel and tourism are:

• Counter Clerk : Rs.1500 - Rs.2000
• Assistant :Rs 2000 - Rs.2500
• Junior Executive : Rs.3000 - Rs.3500
• Regional Manager : Rs.3800 - Rs.4500
• General Manager : Rs.5000-6000
• Air Hostess :

1. Rs 6,000 basic salary for domestic
2. Rs 40,000 in international airlines

• Regional Guides: Rs.400 and above for an 8 hour day. They may earn between 30,000-40,000 Rs or more in the three to four months of the tourist peak season

So if you are a hard slog and fanatical enough to turn yourself into a vibrant and a promising professional, you can indeed carve your way out in the very domain and can rise to top positions soon along with starting your own travel agency. A career in Travel and Tourism would offer you good salaries and perks too. Hence, for the audacious and the travel minded, this industry has a lot more in store and is the place to build your career.

Source: Madiha Jawed (Shiksha Team)