Careers in Tourism

Like most service industries, tourism is labour-intensive; that is, it employs a high proportion of people in comparison to the number that it serves. The range of jobs is also very wide, from unskilled, like a dish washer in a restaurant, to semi-skilled, like a waiter or a chambermaid, to skilled, like a travel agent or a tour operator. In addition, tourism generates many jobs that are not usually considered to be within the industry itself – jobs in construction, manufacturing and merchandising.

The tourist industry differs from many others as it employs more women than other kinds of business. There are tour guides, conductors, tour operators, travel agents, social directors a lot of instructors and others. The common feature of these professions is to deal with different people every day and try to please their needs.

The person who leads tours is a tour guide. He gets well with other people and he deals with the variety of problems that arise not only in making travel arrangements, but also in carrying them out. He deals with the problems of lost luggage and unsatisfactory hotel accommodations, with rainy days and fatigue, with sudden illness, and with interpersonal problems that arise among the members of the group.

Tour operators are the people who package or put together tours. A tour operator buys the separate elements of transport, accommodation, and other service, and combines them into a package.

The travel agents combine office work with selling. While they sell holiday packages and travel tickets, they also give a lot of advice to customers about passport, visa and medical requirements, insurance, routes and timetables, options to look at if one type of holiday is fully booked - in fact anything the customer needs to know.

The sightseeing guide must be familiar with the points of interest that he is showing to the visitors. He usually gives a prepared talk that describes the points of interest, but he must also be prepared to answer a lot of questions. And he has to deal with any problems that occur during the tour or excursion.

The social director not only has to organize the activities for entertaining and amusing the customers, he must also involve the willing and the reluctant guests in the fun and games. A good social director should really enjoy the games and parties that are planned for the guests.

No matter what aspect of the industry one may work in, the final result of the effort should be a satisfied customer who remembers his trip and his holiday with pleasure.

The World Tourism Organization

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), based in Madrid, Spain, is a United Nations agency dealing with questions relating to tourism. It compiles the World Tourism rankings. The World Tourism Organization is a significant global body, concerned with the collection and collation of statistical information on international tourism. This organization represents public sector tourism bodies, from most countries in the world and the publication of its data makes possible comparisons of the flow and growth of tourism on a global scale. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The official languages of UNWTO are Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spain.

The World Tourism Organization plays a role in promoting the development of responsible, ‎sustainable and universally accessible tourism, paying particular attention to the ‎interests of developing countries‎.

The Organization encourages the implementation ‎of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, with a view to ensuring that member ‎countries, tourist destinations and businesses maximize the positive economic, ‎social and cultural effects of tourism and fully reap its benefits, while minimizing its ‎negative social and environmental impacts.

The WTO always hold different conventions where the members discuss important issues, formulate and publish certain recommendations to tourism companies, agencies. This organization offers various classifications to clarify some tourism notions.

As of 2010, its membership included 154 member states, seven associate members, two observers. 15 of these members have withdrawn from the organization for different periods in the past. Additionally there are some 350 affiliate members, representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities. The frequent confusion between the two WTOs – World Tourism Organization and the Geneva -based World Trade Organization – officially ended on 1 December 2005, when the General Assembly approved to add the letters UN (for United Nations) to the start of abbreviation of the leading international tourism body in English and in Russian. UNWTO abbreviation remains OMT in French and Spanish. UNWTO General Assembly concluded its work at its 16th session in Dakar, Senegal on 2 December 2005.