Travel and tourism

Providing you with skills such as teamwork and customer service a degree in travel and tourism can lead to a range of opportunities across the world

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
• Event manager
• Human resources officer
• Marketing executive
• Museum/gallery exhibitions officer
• 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 always value work experience and you should try to secure something that is relevant to the area in which you wish to work. Getting experience in customer care, dealing with large groups, sales and travelling can all be useful. Generally having experience in any public-facing role will be helpful.

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

Many travel and tourism courses have the option of taking a placement year in industry. This provides the opportunity to put your academic work into practice and to build up a network of contacts that could be useful for future work. You could also consider spending time working abroad. This could include working at holiday or theme parks, in a resort or at summer camps.

Another way to get some experience abroad is by taking part in an exchange programme, spending some time studying abroad towards your degree. If your course doesn't offer this you could consider looking at relevant short courses, such as TESOL or TEFL, which may present opportunities to work abroad teaching English language skills.

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

Typical employers

You have a variety of choices when deciding where to work within the travel and tourism industry as it covers services such as:

• retail travel
• currency exchange
• tour operators
• tourist boards

passenger transport including:

• coach
• aviation
• rail
• waterways

visitor attractions such as:

• museums
• theme parks
• zoos
• heritage sites

and accommodations services including:

• hotels
• hostels
• holiday parks.

You could also work with employers related to travel and tourism including conference and events businesses or any employer with a customer-facing role.

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 gives you knowledge about products, structures and operations within the tourism industry, as well as teaching you about tour operators, airlines, hotels and tourist boards.

Through a combination of vocational and academic study you learn about the relationships between consumers and the providers of tourism services, and about the 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:

• leadership
• teamworking
• problem solving
• communication skills, with a strong customer focus
• IT skills
• the ability to research
• presentation skills
• the ability to work to deadlines.

Further study

Depending on your area of work, there may be industry-specific professional qualifications to work towards as part of your role.

There is also the option of progressing into further study straight after your degree. Relevant postgraduate courses include those with an emphasis on management skills, particularly in areas such as international tourism, hospitality, heritage and sustainability. Postgraduate courses in specialist areas such as ecotourism or rural development may also be helpful.

General business topics such as marketing or human resources could be relevant and can be applied across various disciplines. Think about your preferred career path and check that the postgraduate options line up with it.

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 (6%), aircraft pilots and air traffic controllers (3%) and air travel assistants (3%).

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

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.