Travel & Tourism Industry: Jobs Explained
- Holiday representative - A holiday representative is responsible for looking after groups of people package holidays at resorts. Their most important job is to make sure they enjoy their holiday and that everything runs smoothly, if not it is their responsibility to resolve any problems. It is important that they create an excellent first impression and continue to provide a good service to clients throughout the duration of their stay.
- Tour Manager - Tour managers organise and accompany groups of holiday-makers on package tours to various locations in the UK and overseas. They must make sure their clients enjoy their trip, as well as providing them with practical support throughout their holiday. Tour managers are responsible for accompanying tours from beginning to end, and sometimes publicised and they are involved with planning tour schedules.
- Tourism officer - A tourism officer develops and promotes tourism in order to attract visitors and bring money to a particular region or site. Tourism officers often work for local authorities, but may also work within private companies or other public sector agencies.
- Tourist guide - Tourist guides are an essential part of the tourism industry in the UK. They conduct organised tours for groups of tourists in a whole variety of locations. Tourist guides inform visitors about sites and attractions in the local area.
- Tourism information centre Manager - Tourist information centres (TICs) provide information to the public and local businesses about tourist attractions, events, accommodation, transport and other facilities in the region and nationwide. The managers of these centres, , are responsible for ensuring that the centre runs smoothly, recruiting and training staff, and purchasing the souvenirs on offer to the public. To be successful, TIC managers must plan well in advance and be able to predict what the public wants.
- Travel agency clerk/ consultant - Travel agency clerks/consultants promote and sell holiday and/or business travel products direct to the public, usually from a retail outlet.
- Travel agency manager - Travel agency managers usually work from retail outlets offering consumer or business travel products. Responsibilities include sales development, staff, and managing day to day business. Travel agencies could be small independent organisations, specialists with detailed knowledge of specific travel products or large chains offering a variety of travel options.
- Hotel Manager - A hotel manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of a hotel and its staff and has commercial accountability for planning, organising and directing all hotel services, including front-of-house (reception, concierge, reservation), banqueting and housekeeping.
- Food and beverage Manager - This person must ensure service delivery at every point of sale in the Food and Beverage Department. He or she therefore supervises and co-ordinates the Food and Beverage Department.
- Restaurant Manager - This person is responsible for the image of the restaurant and increasing its sales (from preparation through to service).
- Head Waiter - The head waiter must organize the services offered to diners and ensure the quality of those services.
- Waiter - A waiter/ waitress must arrange the dining room, welcome and serve restaurant guests and tidy the dining room after meal service. The Waiter forms the continuous link between the kitchen and the dining room.
- Bartender - The bartender must welcome and advise customers, prepare and serve drinks and cocktails, take responsibility for the organization of the bar and charge customers for their drinks, accept the corresponding payments and manage bar stocks and supplies
- Front office Manager - The Front Office Manager is in charge of reception and the switchboard, and is responsible for welcoming guests and handling any complaints.
- Reservations Manager - The job of the Reservations Manager is to organize the reservations system and take responsibility for the quality of the service it provides, whilst maximizing occupancy rates and average revenue per room.
- Receptionist - The job of the Receptionist is to be responsible for the stays of guests in the hotel. He or she maintains the guest folder from arrival to payment on departure.
- Housekeeper - Housekeepers contribute to guest comfort and ensure the daily cleaning and tidying of all the hotel bedrooms and any public areas.
- Head Chef - The head chef is the person responsible for all kitchen produce, co-ordinating the distribution of tasks amongst their teams and ensuring that the work progresses as it should within the time available. They must also prepare all the menus in co-operation with the Restaurant Manager and check customer satisfaction levels by exercising a presence in the restaurant at meal times.
- Kitchen Porter - The kitchen porter is responsible for washing the restaurant dishes and all the kitchen utensils, as well as cleaning all the larger items of kitchen equipment and the food production areas.
Hotels
Another very significant part of travel and tourism are hotels. There is a hugely diverse range of jobs in hotels, such as:
Food and Beverage:
Front house:
Housekeeping:
Kitchen:
