What Can I Do with a Hospitality Degree in Tourism Management?
Home might be where the heart is, but everyone at some point wants to get away. Despite the disappointing economic factors, world tourism has grown and summer travel in the U.S. remains a priority for many individuals and families. This bodes well for anyone interested in the tourism industry. If you want to know what you can do with a degree in tourism management, keep reading. Schools offering Travel & Tourism degrees can also be found in these popular choices.
Degrees in Tourism Management
Undergraduate degrees in tourism management are commonly available at the associate's and bachelor's degree levels. Associate's degree programs offer introductory courses on the tourism industry in general, as well as exposing students to such subjects as event management, accounting and small business management. Bachelor's degree programs expand on that foundation, offering more management courses, and electives in such areas as resort management, hospitality law and tourism marketing.
Career Options for Someone with a Degree in Tourism Management
Travel Agent
A travel agent helps individuals and groups to arrange excursions either in the United States, or abroad. You would help to advise travelers about the many destinations that are available, with an understanding for their preferences and other factors, such as cost. To plan travel accommodations, you'll have to be adept with computers and understand both train and airplane schedules in your area. If an overseas trip is being planned, you'll need to advise the customer on such things as passports, medical requirements and monetary exchange rates. Travel agents also help to plan hotel accommodations and tour schedules, if necessary.
Meeting, Convention or Event Planner
Meeting, event and convention planners work with organizations to make group travel and accommodation plans to specific locations. According to the BLS, employment opportunities include travel agencies, hotels or convention centers. You could also work for a large organization, planning events for them exclusively.
You would plan events and meetings at specific locations, such as hotels with meeting facilities, or convention centers near hotels. This would involve planning in advance all of the lodging accommodations for all the attendees. Travel accommodations might be included. After securing a venue, you'd be responsible for scheduling all meetings and other events.
Work for a Tourism Bureau
All large municipalities and some small towns have tourism bureaus, where the area is promoted and potential travelers are assisted. At a tourism bureau, you can help people to plan their trip by advising them on air travel, hotel choices and destinations. Large cities of historical and cultural significance might highlight those aspects, as well as such other aspects as sports, dining, nightlife and special events. You would speak to people in person, by phone and online, and help to update online content, such as scheduled events. If you worked for an area with a prominent theme park, then you would work in conjunction with that company to promote tourism to your town and that destination. Traditional vacation destinations also have websites and employ people to help promote and assist potential travelers, but much of that work is seasonal.
Work for a Tourism Organization
Organizations such as the United Nations' World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the U.S. Travel Association or the American Automobile Association (AAA) all promote travel in different ways, and they need qualified people to accomplish that task. The UNWTO provides information on international travel, and it needs people to research and write materials that give resources for travel agents and potential travelers on the many aspects of traveling overseas.
The U.S. Travel Association helps professionals to promote traveling and vacationing within the United States, and people who work for them can be advocates, researchers or government relations workers. The organization's department on government relations has its own Political Action Committee (PAC), and it works in government and at the grassroots level to promote travel in America.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a national organization that promotes not only travel in the United States, but focuses on automobile travel. AAA employees can help members with information on preferred rates for travel, hotels and venues.
To continue researching, browse degree options below for course curriculum, prerequisites and financial aid information. Or, learn more about the subject by reading the related articles below:
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