Many individuals and businesses spend time and money on travel, both for enjoyment and to conduct business. Many travel jobs can be found in the tourism industry or catering to business travelers. Travel jobs related to tourism include travel agents, tour guides, and tour group leaders. Many corporations and businesses hire travel agencies to arrange their trips, both domestic and abroad. Some of the larger businesses even hire full-time travel consultants to manage travel and travel expenses.
Tour guides usually work for larger companies who arrange tours for groups of individuals. Sometimes these tours are domestic, but they are often arranged abroad. Tours are often expensive to arrange, so in many cases clubs and social groups may decide to book an entire tour exclusively for their group. This cuts down on individual costs and ensures that they will be traveling with friends. Other than tour guides, travel jobs associated with tours include bus drivers and tour group leaders.
Many travel jobs are available within the cruise line industry. In addition to employees who actually run and manage the ship, cruise lines hire people for food service, entertainment, and custodial work. Cruise lines also need people to work as recreation managers. These employees arrange activities for the passengers while the ship is at sea. Ideally, people who work as recreation managers should be physically fit and capable of performing a wide range of activities.
More common travel jobs can be found in various fields of transportation. This includes airline pilots, flight attendants, and reservationists. Those who work with cross country bus lines and rail systems are also a part of the travel industry. This is particularly true in Europe, where rail systems stretch across many different countries.
Travel agencies are companies that specialize in arranging both business travel and vacations. A travel agent is typically up to date on the best prices for airline tickets and hotel accommodations. Many resorts offer vacation packages exclusively to travel agencies. These agencies then resell the packages to their customers. Travel agents should ideally be energetic people who enjoy working with the public.
Some people make their living writing articles and books about travel. These writers sometimes find employment with newspapers or magazines for work in their travel and leisure sections. Other travel writers may write complete travel guides, which are booklets devoted to specific destinations. A travel guide will typically include reviews on area restaurants and hotels, and listings of interesting places to visit.
