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Careers in
Tourism
The travel bug begins
to bite as summer approaches and children get their holidays.
Keeping this in mind, we cover careers for those inclined
towards travel and adventure. With domestic and international
tourism picking up, many careers can indeed be made in this
sector. We describe some opportunities though many more may
exist in related areas. We also talk to a company which
employs young people as 'Holiday Consultants'. If you like
meeting people, love adventure and have a pleasing
personality, you can look for careers in a fast growing
sector.
The travel and tourism industry is growing very fast. Once
confined to families taking an annual LTC trip, today more
people are venturing out of their homes and look for quality
vacations where they can relax and also do something new and
interesting. Sports like river rafting and hang gliding are
slowly catching on and there are many jobs that are available
for a person who can arrange good holidays for the domestic
as well as the international tourist. India earned $ 2753
million from international tourism in 1995. The total number
of arrivals were 21.22 lakhs, and the figure is increasing
every year.
With the growth of tourist traffic, travel-related jobs are
increasing by the day. These relate to various related
services facilitating travel, such as travel agencies,
banking, hotels, guides, airlines and other services. Some of
them may be seasonal, limited to the tourist season from
September to March but others are permanent in nature. In
this sector, girls are in as much demand as males and are
even preferred for certain jobs.
Travel-related jobs are best suited for individuals who enjoy
meeting people and make them comfortable. They are for those
who love adventure and travelling. True, some are desk jobs,
but even these jobs entail understanding the needs of the
traveller and making the best arrangements possible for him.
Many agencies are diversifying into travel services. These
include foreign banks and vacation companies which offer this
as an added service to their clients. For example, American
Express has its Travel-Related Services Unit to provide
assistance to clients. With the travel sector opening up and
foreign timeshares and vacations becoming popular, tourist
traffic is expected to increase manifold. Much of the traffic
depends on internal stability of the country; fortunately
that has existed in India. The government too recognises it
as an industry.
Some of the areas where careers can be made are described
here:
Travel Agencies: Facilitating travel and related services are
travel agencies. They require people to deal with customers,
guide them as they plan holidays and finally offer tickets
for the best routes or offers. They also help in foreign
exchange and visas. To join a travel agency, one can do a
diploma in travel and ticketing from a polytechnic or an
institute. This is usually a short-term course (3-6 months)
and will help gain entry into an agency. Some travel agencies
and airlines offer this course. Short-term courses are also
offered by Delhi Tourism. Freshers without a diploma can also
join and learn on the job. The requirements are a pleasing
personality and the ability to deal with customers. Of course
a knowledge of destinations and procedures help a great deal.
Tour Operators: There are many companies operating tours for
the domestic as well as the international tourist. Some may
be for the usual destinations like hill stations but others
are for unusual activities like river rafting, hang gliding,
rock climbing and camping. Tour operators need people for
selling the concept and then to accompany the groups to the
destinations. For foreign groups, the agencies prefer girls,
who are friendly and helpful. For domestic groups, males are
preferred. Again, the qualities required are a pleasing and
outgoing personality, knowledge of the activities and often
participatin in them with the tourists. A person hoping to
work with a tour operator must be able to travel with the
groups and know people at the destinations to make the tours
pleasant for the client. Though one may do a course of
tourist guide for this purpose, people with a knowledge of
the activities can easily join tour operators. The jobs could
be seasonal in some cases.
Tourist guides: The Ministry of Tourism grants licenses to
three categories of tourist guides: regional, state level and
monument guides. This is a three-month course followed by a
test, after which the license is granted. For 12 years after
1984, no licenses were granted as the license holders had
taken a stay. People have thus been working even eithout a
license. A guide gets about Rs 1,600 per day for outstation
tours but they also get tips from clients and commission from
hotels, restaurants and shops. The best guides and those who
are in demand are those who offer clean deals and are able to
get the maximum advantage for the tourists. Guides must be in
touch with foreign agencies who send groups to India. A fixed
itinerary is offered and guides take the groups to those
areas which they are familiar with. Apart from the activities
mentioned above, wildlife safaris are also becoming
increasingly popular. During the season, a guide can hope to
earn a six-figure sum but a person has to be good and
understand the foreign tourist and his needs. The job is
exciting and satisfying and the earnings during the season
are enough to see one through the off season as well. The age
limit for a guide is 50 years but young and energetic persons
are preferred.
Holiday consultants: This is a new concept, the idea being
that the tourist gets all the details of travel and
itineraries from one source. The holiday consultant will sell
the holidays, plan out the itineraries, help in travel plans
and arrange for ticketing and other details as well. A
knowledge of the destinations and the activities available is
a pre-requisite. With people having little time, these
consultants will make all the arrangements required to have
an enjoyable holiday.
Airlines: Airlines require people for ground as well as
flight duties. On the ground, the duties are in offices, at
the airline desks in airports and for checking and managing
flights. A course in travel or a qualification on hotel
management helps to get in. Airlines also require air
hostesses and stewards for flights. The jobs are glamorous
and afford the possibility of traveling to exciting
destinations. Free tickets for the family offered by some
airlines are an added advantage. To become an air hostess,
you should be unmarried, below 25, a graduate or have
training in hotel management and catering. A pleasing
personality, physical fitness and lots of stamina are
required. Your height should be between 154 and 170 cm,
normal eyesight and familiarity of a foreign language. There
are a number of institutes offering training to become an air
hostess. Indian Airlines has its own institute in Hyderabad
to train cabin crew. Airlines advertise for vacancies in the
newspaper and impart their own training. Apart from a test to
check your general awareness and proficiency in language,
there may be a flight observation test to see if the
applicant gests air sick. The flight career of air hostesses
is only 10 years or shorter in the case of private airlines.
Salaries range in the range of Rs 6,000 for domestic to Rs
40,000 in international airlines. If you want to become an
air hostess, make sure you participate in games and extra
curricular activities and develop a good personality. With
more airlines targetting India, there may be many jobs
available as air hostesses.
Banks: Foreign banks and dealers in foreign exchange require
people to assist their clients in their travel requirements.
The idea is to provide services under one roof. Usually,
MBASs from premier institutes are preferred. The bank helps
in hotel bookings, ticketing and all travel-related services.
Indian banks have been laggards in providing such services
and foreign banks pay very well. The jobs expected from the
person may sometimes be more than travel-related, since a
personal touch is added to make the traveller feel at home.
With foreign companies coming in India in a big way, such
services are poised to increase.
For the adventurous and the travel-minded, there are a lot of
avenues that could be explored. Of course one has to very
good in the job, have a thorough knowledge and have lots of
stamina. For the travel buff with a knowledge of Indian
culture and destinations, a career in travel and tourism
offers exciting opportunities indeed.
Degree courses in Travel and Tourism
Course - B.A. Tourism and Travel Management. Graduate
Integrated Course
Duration - 3 years.
Eligibility - +2.
Eastern Region
Gauhati University ,Gauhati
Utkal University , Puri, Orissa
University of Calcutta
Northern Region
University of Delhi New Delhi
Kurukshetra University , Haryana.
Maharashi Dayanand University, Haryana.
Himachal Pradesh University
Agra University - Agra 282004
Awadh University ,Madhya Pradesh
Benaras Hindu University , Varanasi 221005
Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi 221002
IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110 068
Western Region
Goa University, Goa
University of Mumbai, Mumbai
University of Poona , Nasik
Southern Region
Bangalore University, Bangalore
Karnataka University
Bhartidasan University, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu
University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Andhra University
Kakatiya University
University of Calicut ,Calicut, Kerala.
Mother Teresa Women's University, Kodaikanal 624102 TN
Post graduate courses in travel and tourism
Masters in travel administration of 2 years duration is
offered to graduates/postgraduates in the following
universitites :
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra 132119
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002
Jiwaji University, Gwalior 474011
Anantpur University, Anantpur 515314
Marathwada University, Aurangabad 431004
Jai Narayan Vyas University, Jodhpur 342001
Pondicherry University, Pondicherry 605014
Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla 171005
Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore 452001
Avdhesh Pratap Singh University, Rewa 486003
Utkal University, PO Vani Vihar, Bhubaneshwar 751004 Orissa
Lucknow University, Badshah Bagh, Lucknow 226007
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar 246174
Garhwal Distt. UP
Dr. B. S. Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad 431004,
Maharashtra
Indira Gandhi National Open University, School of Social
Sciences, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110 068 offers Masters in
Tourism Management through correspondence (2-4 years). The
course is open to graduate and Hotel Management diploma
holders.
http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/tourism/india.html
School of Tourism and Hospitality Management
http://www.chre.vt.edu/admin/HTM/gradhandbook.htm
Graduate Handbook Hospitality and Tourism Management, USA
http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/RHIT/links.htm
Hospital and Tourism management links to various institutes
world over
http://www-icdl.open.ac.uk/icdl/database/asia/india/kotaopen/prog/dthm.htm
Kota Open University course in Tourism management
http://www.saptagiri.com/bachelor_hotel_management.htm
Saptagiri college of Hotel management, Mangalore
http://www.india-times.com/iittm/faculty.htm
Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management, Gwalior
http://www.webindia.com/aiimas/aiics.html
All India Institute of Career Studies -- Offers one year
diploma in Tourism Management
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