Just imagine getting paid to serve guests a gourmet 5-course meal on a 40-foot yacht, while cruising the emerald waters of the Caribbean Sea. Or let’s say you’re an avid equestrian lover and horseback rider; what’s stopping you from leading groups of tourists on horseback riding adventures in New Zealand, or South America? Perhaps you speak several languages; have you considered working as a tour guide, translating for tourists? Or, maybe you want to put your organizational skills to the test by becoming a travel agent and working to plan the trips, journeys and adventures and making your clients’ dreams come true.
Today, more than ever before, people are investing their time and money in travelling – from high-end, affluent tourists to adventure-seeking adrenaline junkies to retired wine aficionados to university backpackers travelling on the cheap. Travel and tourism industries are booming in places all over the world.
If you’re an avid traveller, if you love meeting new people, exploring new places, and learning and interacting with different cultures, a career in international tourism and hospitality may be a good fit for you. The sector is hugely diverse, offering entry-level positions to high-end management positions that you’ll land with the right education and professional experiences. From managing yoga retreat centres, to eco-lodges, to guiding people up and down volcanoes, to helping them take the plunge as a scuba diving instructor, to being a sous-chef on a cruise-liner. The options are limitless! You could find yourself working on land, sea, or up in the air, taking care of travellers, and helping them go from Point A to Point B, to connect with culture, food, and geography, to cross destinations off their bucket-lists; to see and experience the great wonders of the world.
There are various ways to break into the field of international tourism and hospitality, and we’ll take a close look at several of them. First, let’s learn more about the kinds of people who are attracted to work in the field, understand some of the benefits and challenges of working abroad, and get to know what kind of educational background, skills, and experiences are necessary to succeed.
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