Tour Operator Jobs
Tour operators have traditionally offered package holidays, which may include flights, transfers, hotel accommodation, plus tours and excursions. Before the internet evolved, the tour operators packaged up all of the components required to get you from A to B and back, with minimum effort. The internet has made the process of booking the components of a holiday much easier, and tour operators have had to adapt the way they work. This has resulted in mergers and downsizing of the big tour operators, as their market share declined.
The UK market is currently dominated by two huge companies called TUI and Thomas Cook. Between them they own most of the big travel companies that you may be familiar with: Airtours, First Choice, Thomson, Crystal Holidays, MyTravel, Club 18-30, as well as numerous airlines and hotel chains. There are still plenty of independent tour operators, quite often specialising in certain destinations or types of travel.
A tour operator will interact with hotel and accommodation providers, airlines and airports, transfer and tour companies. The type of work you will be required to undertake will be very different depending upon the size of the company you work for. Within a larger organisation you will find your job will be more specialised, whereas in a smaller company you may need to get involved in a lot more of the day to day functions. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
Of course tour operators will have representatives in resorts worldwide, but you will find many UK based 'back office' functions, such as product management, marketing roles, IT and accounting staff, and perhaps most numerous, the reservations staff. If you think about the customer journey through booking a holiday, they will probably start in one of two places, either in front of their laptop, looking at the company website, or in a travel agency, looking at the company brochure. The marketing department is likely to be involved here, either digital marketing or traditional marketing. In order to produce this brochure the company will have used a team of contractors or product managers to find destinations and negotiate contracts with hotels. If the customer or travel agent picks up the phone, they will talk to the reservations team who will agree a price. A confirmed booking is then processed by the admin team who will organise tickets and confirm bookings with hotels and transport partners. And because customers may need assistance twenty four hours a day, the company will often have a special operations team who act as a contact point.
Qualifications
Colleges and universities offer general travel and tourism courses, with qualifications including Diplomas, BTECs and even degrees. As with a lot of jobs, your direct experience working in similar roles will be of more value to the employer. If for example you want to work in the marketing department, especially for a large company, a marketing qualification or previous marketing experience will likely stand you in better stead than a general, broad scoped travel and tourism qualification. However smaller companies may prefer people who have a wider knowledge.
Tour Operator Job Vacancies:
Long Haul Travel Sales Consultant Employer: Holidays Please Long Haul Travel Consultants needed by Holidaysplease. We focus on keeping our sales team busy selling holidays. You may call us old fashioned but we think sales people earn the most when they spend 100% of their time selling, and with Holidaysplease the more you sell........the more you earn!!! | Search for a Job On Board a Cruise Ship Employer: International Cruise Services The Cruise Industry is booming at the moment with many new ships due to be launched within the next six months creating thousands of jobs in all departments for all nationalities. |
Travel Agents Employer: Various Do you want to work in the retail travel industry and help make customers holiday wishes come true? | Team Leader and Managerial RolesEmployer: Various Are you able to successfully motivate a team and do you have the drive and determination to succeed and help your team deliver excellent results? |
Overseas Jobs and Careers with Olympic Holidays Employer: Olympic Holidays Olympic Holidays is a name trusted in the UK travel industry and we pride ourselves on our commitment to quality, service and value. As a specialist, independent tour operator, we recognise and appreciate the performance and abilities of our overseas team | Home WorkersEmployer: Various Have you ever fancied running your own business and escaping the usual '9 to 5' routine? As a home working Travel advisor you can do just that! |
Store Managers and Personal Travel Experts Employer: Kuoni Travel We are currently recruiting Store Managers, Personal Travel Experts, and Data Setup Assistants to work at various UK locations. | Business Travel ConsultantEmployer: Various Do you have solid business travel experience and a passion for customer service? Would you like to work with some of the biggest names in the industry? Then this is the new business travel challenge you have been seeking! |
Marketing Roles Employer: Balkan Holidays Balkan Holidays, the UK’s leading specialist Tour Operator to Bulgaria and Croatia with 44 years of experience. We are always interested in talking to talented individuals who want to make a real difference to Balkan Holidays. |