Is A Travel And Tourism Career For You

Is A Travel and Tourism Career For You?

Although striving for a Travel and Tourism career could be quite tempting, especially with the decent pay waiting for you and benefits in store, this is still not a venture for the weak hearted. As I found out the hard way, getting into this field is not all about perks, benefits and big tips. It takes hard work, long hours, much sacrifice to keep everybody else happy.

So, before you pass that resume or application to undergo training, try to think carefully first if this profession is really for you. Here are some points to consider in seeing the big picture more clearly.

Humility: Do You Have It?

One very important thing you should remember with this type of work is that it is service oriented. You are the provider of the service. Thus, you should have humility towards the person you are serving. If you are the type of person that cannot lower your pride, then this would be a pretty tough ordeal for you. However, if you are the type who loves to serve and accommodate the needs of other people, this would be pretty easy on your part.

A Perpetual Smile

Being in this profession would mean having a perpetual smile on your face throughout your working hours. You could never grunt or complain about work, especially in front of your guests. No matter how bad your day has been, you should be prepared to serve people with a smile. This could make you pretty grumpy when you get home to your family and don't want to smile anymore.

Smiling is one way of being hospitable. It is also one good way to make people feel that they are welcome in a new place. So, if you think you can’t keep that smile plastered on your face even if you’re not in the mood, then this is not the job for you.

Ready To Work The Graveyard Shift?

Jobs in this field usually involve working in hotels, cafes, casinos and restaurants. All of which are establishments that are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In most cases, you are not the one who will be setting your schedule but your manager.

Thus, you should be ready to work the graveyard shift. Shiftwork is almost a given, or at the very least, working late is the norm. This is why you should also be prepared to adjust to whatever schedule was given to you. This doesn’t mean that you only adjust your daily schedule of activities. You should also be ready to adjust physically and mentally.

Goodbye Holidays!

Holidays are the busiest time of the year for this industry. Hence, you should be prepared to give up your own holiday celebrations while you serve other people so that they can have the vacation of a lifetime. This part of the job does not only affect you, but also your family. Thus, they should also be prepared and be able to understand the nature of your job. In most cases, you would have to celebrate your holidays the next day or the previous day.

Home Away From Home

Travelling is a part for most positions in this career path. If you’ll be working in a cruise or airline setting, then you should be prepared to have your home away from home, which would be your ship or airplane. There are also tour guide positions in which you would sometimes be on tour for a number of days or posted to a resort location for weeks to months. You get to go home for about a day or so and you’ll be off on another tour or posting once more.

If you are a tour guide as I was taking people abroad on 14 to 30-day tours you need to be prepared to handle cases of illness in a foreign country or as in a case of one of my colleagues (thank goodness it wasn't me), a tour participant expired and she had to arrange to have his remains transported back home. Not a nice experience. It's definitely not all fun, games and perks. You have to do what it takes to keep the tourists and business travellers happy and comfortable.

So, do you think you can handle all these? If yes, then good luck with your Travel and Tourism career venture!

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