Travel and tourism

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Air cabin crew
• Holiday representative
• Hotel manager
• Theme park manager
• Tour manager
• Tourism officer
• Tourist information centre manager
• Travel agency manager

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Conference centre manager
• Customer service manager
• English as a foreign language teacher
• Event manager
• Human resources officer
• Marketing executive
• Passenger transport manager
• Sales executive
• Outdoor activities/education manager

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

Employers value work experience, so try to find some that's relevant to the area you want to work in. Experience in customer care, working with large groups, sales and travel is useful, and any public-facing role will help.

The travel and tourism industry is vast and so you should be able to find roles with hours that suit your circumstances. There are a variety of visitor attractions, hotels and tour operators that you can approach to ask about available jobs or work experience opportunities.

Many travel and tourism courses offer a placement year in industry. This provides the opportunity to put your academic work into practice and to build up a network of contacts for future work. You could also spend time working abroad, for example at holiday or theme parks, in a resort or at summer camps.

Another option is an exchange programme, studying abroad as part of your degree. If your course doesn't offer this option, consider short courses such as TESOL or TEFL, which may create opportunities to teach English abroad.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

Travel services:

• travel agencies and online travel retailers
• foreign currency and payment providers
• tour operators and holiday companies
• national, regional and local tourism organisations (tourist boards/destination management).

Passenger transport:

• coach and bus companies
• airlines and airports
• train and rail operators
• ferry, cruise and other waterways operators

Visitor attractions:

• museums and galleries
• theme parks
• zoos and wildlife parks
• heritage sites and visitor centres.

Accommodation:

• hotels and hotel groups
• hostels and budget accommodation providers
• holiday parks and resorts.

You could also work for conference and events businesses, or any employer with a strong customer-facing focus.

Find information on employers in hospitality and events management, leisure, sport and tourism, business, consulting and management and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

Studying travel and tourism develops your knowledge of products, structures and operations within the tourism industry, as well as teaching you about tour operators, airlines, hotels and other tourism organisations.

Through a combination of vocational and academic study, you learn about the relationships between consumers and providers of tourism services, and issues relating to sustainability and social responsibility within tourism.

The course also equips you with a range of transferable skills that can be used with many employers, including:

• commercial awareness
• leadership and teamworking
• problem solving
• communication, with a strong customer focus
• IT skills
• planning, organisation and the ability to work to deadlines
• research
• analytical and data skills
• presentation skills
• awareness of other cultures.

Further study

Many travel and tourism graduates go straight into work. Once employed, you may be able to work towards industry-specific professional qualifications as part of your role.

Alternatively, you could take a Masters degree, either full time or part time while working. Courses in areas such as international tourism, hospitality, heritage and sustainability with a focus on management and leadership may be particularly useful. Courses in specialist areas such as ecotourism or rural development may also be helpful.

You might also consider postgraduate courses in marketing, events management or human resources, for example, to widen your options in related fields. Think about your preferred career path and check whether postgraduate study would offer a clear advantage.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search for postgraduate courses in tourism, hospitality and event management.

What do travel and tourism graduates do?

The top five jobs held by travel and tourism graduates employed in the UK include events managers and organisers (12%), advertising and marketing associate professionals (5%), aircraft pilots and air traffic controllers (5%) and business sales executives (3%).

Find out what other graduates are doing after finishing their degrees in What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.