Careers Options
The travel and tourism industry is one of the world’s largest employers. New Zealand
has a thriving travel and tourism industry with employment available as tour guides,
porters, hotel receptionists, travel agents and consultants, hospitality occupations,
sales and marketing, tourism operations and much more.
Having a recognised qualification will greatly help you in obtaining employment
in the travel and tourism industry. Along with a qualification such as a National
Certificate or National Diploma, employers look for personal qualities such as a
love for travel, being enthusiastic, friendly and outgoing, and displaying good
personal presentation. Foreign language and cross-cultural skills are also an advantage.
Following are some popular career opportunities in travel and tourism.
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Retail Travel Agent
Travel agent consultants arrange and sell travel products and services for travellers.
Much time is spent speaking with customers to understand their travel needs and
offering the best solutions. Customer service is very important in this role.
As well as dealing directly with customers, travel agents spend a lot of time on
the phone with wholesalers obtaining quotes to put together travel itineraries.
The agency will also provide information for you to research travel destinations
so you can provide the best value to the customer.
Many travel agents will support part-time and job-share work arrangements and encourage
employees to travel as a way of increasing their product and service knowledge.
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Corporate Travel Agent
A corporate travel specialist arranges travel services for business travellers.
This often includes airline tickets, accommodation and rental cars. Usually a corporate
travel service aims to obtain special discounts.
The corporate travel environment can often be very busy with deadlines to meet and
last minute work. Corporate travel agents need to be quick, efficient and organised.
Good computer skills are essential for this position. Familiarisation trips to common
business destinations are sometimes available.
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Wholesale Travel Agent
Wholesale travel consultants plan and arrange travel itineraries. The role often
includes selling vacation and cruise packages, making reservations for business
and leisure travellers, interpreting schedules and brochures for the client, calculating
fares and issuing tickets, preparing forms, and providing travel information by
researching resource materials.
As with other travel agency roles, it is good to have an active interest in various
cultures and world travel. You must enjoy working with people, be able to work under
pressure and have attention to details.
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Airline Staff
Working as an airline flight attendant affords you the opportunity to visit a variety
of overseas destinations. Employers generally look for personal qualities such as
a positive attitude, confidence, maturity and a friendly disposition and genuine
interest in helping people and providing high quality customer service.
The job can be tiring due to long hours and varied schedules so resilience and commitment
to perform well in demanding conditions are also important. Usually there are other
requirements such as a minimum age of 21, medical fitness and a minimum height (to
be able to reach emergency equipment on all aircraft types).
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Cruise Industry
Positions with cruise lines include hotel personnel, food and beverage personnel,
entertainers, administrative staff, or trainees for entry-level job positions. Working
on a cruise ship allows you to experience many overseas countries, climates and
locations.
Contracts are normally for six months and can be renewed. Career path advancement
is possible as most cruise lines promote from within based on job performance. Unique
features of this work include working with people from different nationalities,
sharing a small cabin with others and adhering to strict ship rules.
You can expect to work seven days a week and the benefits include visiting exciting
destinations, having room, board and meals paid for, allowing you to save a lot
of money.
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Hotel Front Office
Hotel front desk staff attend to the needs of guests on arrival and during their
stay at the venue. They are responsible for liaising with travel agencies and transport
companies to make travel arrangements. They also provide tourist information to
guests, arrange other accommodation and deal with invoices and forms.
This role involves a lot of personal interaction with guests so staff need to be
friendly, helpful and patient, as often guests have language limitations. Other
attributes needed are being able to work in a team, flexibility and being able to
have a professional manner at all times.
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Tour Guide
Tour guides accompany domestic and international tourists on organised tours, attend
to their needs and provide information. The work includes coordinating the activities
of a tour group as it visits local attractions, and provide commentaries on points
of interest. Training is usually provided.
Good people skills are vital for this role and being able to speak the language
of the main tourist groups is a real advantage. Though the work can be physically
demanding, tour guides get to visit many tourist attractions.