Why settle for a dull, boring job when you can get paid to travel
to exotic destinations? Careers in the travel industry provide the
opportunity for travel and education and give you a chance to share your
love of the exotic destinations you visit. If you’re looking for a job
where you get paid to travel, these are just a few of the positions you
might enjoy.
Adventure Guides
Tour
directors who take people on adventure tours get to enjoy more than
just beautiful scenery and foreign cities – they have the opportunity to
share in exciting adventures and introduce their charges to the
beauties and wonders of the world. Adventure guides may head up tours
into the Amazon, with rides down the Amazon River and nights spent
setting up camp in jungle settings. They may spend weeks living with a
travel tour group on a coffee plantation or in a village in Africa or
Venezuela. If you love the outdoors and enjoy challenging yourself, a
position as an adventure guide may be the right job for you.
Travel and Tours Management
Do
you enjoy planning? Are you detail oriented? Can you communicate well
with people from different cultures? Your dream job may be in a travel
and tours management position. Tour managers
help put together itineraries for tour groups of all ages. They must be
able to communicate with many different types of people and have a good
eye for a bargain.
Tour Guides
Tour
guides get to enjoy the travel part of the job without all the
headaches that go into the planning. Most tour guides live in the city
where the tours are conducted. Their job is to highlight interesting
information about tourist attractions and local city attractions. Tour
guides often get the benefit of travel discounts, or can ask for a
transfer to another city if they want to move to another locale. If you
enjoy showing people the sights of a foreign city – or of your own city –
a job as a tour guide could be the right one for you.
Travel Training
If
you’re looking for training for tour guide jobs and travel training for
other jobs in the travel and tourism industry, you’re not likely to
find it at a college. Unlike other types of hospitality and tourism
jobs, tour guide jobs and tour director jobs often go to those who have
learned the ropes by doing the work. In many cases, tour companies will
hire people with no experience if they fit the image the company wants
to present. You can increase the odds of getting hired for a job where
you get paid to travel, however, but studying the industry and learning
as much as you can about it before you interview for a job.