CAREERS

An Education
in Vacations

Getting people in comfort to where they want to be, packaging the travel with a hotel, perhaps excursions and also meals, encouraging people to visit an area or country, entertaining them when they are there ... these are just some of the aspects of the travel and tourism industry.

Dr Vibha Gupta

The work

The work in this service-based industry essentially involves first figuring out what travellers want and then helping them get it within their budget. It is the staff of this industry who does the legwork for their client, from making all the necessary reservations to finding out about visa requirements or scouting weather forecasts. In a big travel agency, different work is handled by different professionals.

Marketing Professionals advertise and promote agency services to existing and potential clients to procure business for the company.

Ticketing Personnel help clients plan itineraries, work out travel routes by giving them different options like the choice between flights and best discounts, sell transportation tickets, arrange for hotel and other reservations etc.

Tour Operators design and sell holiday packages for various target groups.

Tour Guides escort individuals or groups of people on holiday tours.

In a small travel agency, all the work may be handled by travel agents and tour guides. A travel agent generally starts his career as an information assistant at a government bureau or with a private agency.

Education & skills

A diploma/degree in travel services is the minimum requirement to enter this field. Many polytechnics offer training programmes in certain aspects of tourism and travel, for example, in ticketing and reservation.

Courses like Bachelor of Arts in Tourism and Travel Management / Diploma in Tourism / MTA (Master of Tourism Administration) / MBA offer higher-level jobs as an executive. MBAs are generally recruited for marketing. International Air Transport Association (IATA) (www.iata.org) and the United Federation of Travel Agents' Association (UFTAA) (www.uftaa.org) also offer internationally recognized training through certain Indian institutes.

Master of Tourism Administration (MTA) focuses to provide industry specific management education and to seek and resolve issues rising in the industry. Some of the topics studied in this course are tourism, general management, hospitality management, cultural tourism, accounts, computers, laws & regulations, foreign language and public relations.

To qualify for these courses, minimum requirement is 10+2. Knowledge of a foreign language is often valuable as is some training in computers, though many travel agencies provide on-the-job training.

Key skills

Institutes

Remuneration

Starting salary for those with an MTA/MBA is Rs 15,000-18,000 per month. As one moves up in the hierarchy, perks are plenty and incentives linked to business generated. They often get discount prices on domestic and international travel and sometimes stay at hotels or resorts free or at a reduced charge. Travel agents earn their commission on the sales of travel services offered by travel suppliers.

Job Prospects

Tourism is taking off - literally. It is one of the fastest-growing industries worldwide. Government policies are undergoing changes to attract tourist traffic to the country. Spending on travel is expected to increase significantly as business activity expands so will business related travel. Also, with rising incomes, more people are expected to travel on vacation more frequently than in the past. But, due to latest technology, some consumers choose to make their own travel arrangements over the Internet. So the field is very competitive which attracts many qualified people.

Dr Vibha Gupta is a Ph.D. in Mathematics from IIT Roorkee. Her book Careers: A Pathfinder and articles in various publications are an attempt to guide students in choosing their career according to their natural strengths, talents and skills.