When it comes to careers in travel and tourism, there are two things you need to know - the tourism aspect and the travel aspect involve completely different approaches. Travel, obviously, involves sending people out of the State, so if you have qualifications in this area, you can expect to find a job in a travel agency, for example. Tourism, on the other hand, relates specifically to skills involving visitors coming into the State.
"While hotels and restaurants are very much at the heart of the tourism industry, there are other sectors of the industry specialising in cultural, heritage and leisure tourism," explains Mary Ena Walsh, who is CERT's manager of research and certifications. "There is an increasing need for qualified people in heritage centres, museums, historical sites, craft centres and themed tourist attractions," she says.
The downside of working in this field is that only a little over half of the jobs on offer are permanent. The rest are seasonal or occasional.
If you are thinking of a job in this area, it's worth remembering that you'll need to have good communications skills. CERT offers a number of tourism-related courses. The two-year, full-time national craft certificate tourism course is particularly suitable for school-leavers and includes a six-month work placement. With this qualification, you can go on to take the advanced national certificate in tourism business studies.
The travel business is widely regarded as offering glamorous career opportunities. This is hardly surprising, since travel agent employees are regularly offered free familiarisation trips to foreign resorts. To succeed in the business, however, you need have good people skills and computer skills, common sense and patience.
"It's a fantastic industry to work in," says Susan Maxwell of Maxwell Recruitment, a Dublin-based agency which specialises in recruitment for the travel industry. "There's a real buzz and you're never not busy. It's great to talk to people about their holidays." Exciting it may be, but it can also be a pressured business.
Maxwell encourages young people who are interested in jobs in travel to visit her in her Upper Drumcondra Road office to discuss opportunities. If you are interested in a career in travel, make sure you do the right course. "You need to do a travel rather than a tourism course," she warns. "Make sure the course covers airline reservations systems and ring the Irish Travel Agents Association for advice," she says.
According to Maxwell, employment prospects in the travel trade are good. There's a huge shortage of personnel right now, and people are even being recruited from abroad. Starting salaries tend to be low - around £8,000 - but if you're bright and capable, you'll have plenty of opportunities to improve on your lot. Every job is negotiable, Maxwell says.
Most people start off on the travel agent's front counter, but experienced people can move into the corporate travel sector, where salaries are higher. If you opt to work in a travel agency rather than in an airline, the chances are that you'll find your self working regular 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. office hours.
According to Susan Maxwell, people working in the travel trade are increasingly moving from job to job. Travel agencies apart, suitably qualified people can also find work with tour operators, airlines and ferry and coach companies.
