To a travel agency - no experience. What's behind the ad text?

Today there are many people who want to get a job as a tourism manager in Moscow, because many want to have a position that is at least slightly, at least indirectly related to popular resorts and travel to any corner of the world. Tell clients about the features of tours, the beauties of distant countries, interesting leisure options, exciting excursions. Those who have only recently received a diploma, or have transferred to part-time study, are usually looking for tourism manager vacancies without experience.

Tourism managers create tours, gather groups, communicate with clients, selecting suitable tours and vouchers for them. Their work is directly related to communication and the choice of resorts. That is why there are so many young people who want to become an assistant tourism manager in Moscow.

Wage level

The histogram shows the change in the average salary level of the profession Tourism Manager in Moscow:

Salary level for a tourism manager in other cities of Russia:

Trud.com - first help in finding a job

You can always find interesting job offers in a travel agency on our employment portal. Without weekends or holidays, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, Trud offers applicants the largest database of real and current vacancies in Moscow companies. We collect job advertisements from all job sites for you. We do not limit our information base, replenishing it with all vacancies from all verified and reliable sources - electronic publishing houses for employment. Thus, thanks to the centralization of information from various sources, we were able to create the largest database of vacancies, which is beyond the capabilities of a single portal.

Number of vacancies for the profession Tourism Manager in % by salary range in Moscow:

Moreover, every visitor can use Trud’s services completely free of charge. You don’t need to pay a penny to find out which companies require tourism managers. We are not intermediaries, so we always disclose company names and coordinates. Select the most interesting vacancies for yourself, taking into account all your requirements. After all, we have enough job offers to sort through vacancies in search of the optimal one. To the delight of students and those who have just graduated from university, we have not only vacancies in tourism for already formed specialists, but also options from travel agencies for training and subsequent employment. To get a better chance of getting a job as a domestic or external tourism manager, we recommend sending your resume to several companies at once. In addition, during the interview you will be able to find out more details about the proposed job and, perhaps, it will turn out to be much more attractive to you.

Olga Grafskaya, General Director of the Bonjour Travel Tourism Bureau

Looking for a travel job

Jobs in tourism attract job seekers with the opportunity to see the whole world. I hear this almost always from new employees. Experienced employees are willing to bet that not everything is so fabulous. Every medal, even the most expensive one, has a downside. Our foreign partners organize so-called information and familiarization tours for employees of travel agencies. I’ll say right away: there are never free tours, and the conditions are completely unroyal! The point of such trips is to see with your own eyes what we offer to clients, gain personal experience and express an opinion that is far from the phrases from the advertising booklet.

Such tours are organized out of season, and these trips are very difficult. Every day the agent inspects several hotels, and in countries of mass tourism it reaches several dozen. Your head is spinning and you start to get confused. Experienced specialists make notes and comments for themselves, someone takes photos or videos. And newcomers just walk, look and admire. And in the end they can’t remember anything. Usually one day is left for rest, the rest of the time is working time. Partners look at who behaves in such tours, and if they understand that the agent is incorrect, he may be blacklisted and will not be invited to the next tour. You can travel around the world, but if an employee is constantly traveling, when will he work?!

Who works in tourism and why?

The labor market in tourism, like many others, is also experiencing a shortage of personnel. It is divided into two parts: these are young girls with no experience who believe that there is nothing difficult in this field, and experienced specialists who have worked in the industry for many years. The disadvantage of the former is not even a lack of experience, but that many do not want to learn.

People from the second category do not need to be trained; they come with a client base, which is good for the head of an agency, but there is also a disadvantage here. Such an employee wants to receive exclusive working conditions. They may not bring direct losses to the director, but the profit for the agency will be zero, since all of it will be received by the manager who brought the client.

Fabulous salaries in tourism are rare. There is a dual situation in the market: on the one hand, there is an oversaturation of supply, on the other, a reduction in the industry as a whole. Therefore, the salary range for a tourism manager is from 20 to 60 thousand rubles. But it all depends on the person and his desire to earn money.

The perfect travel agent resume

The most important thing in the resume of applicants in the tourism industry is work experience. But this does not mean that I will not accept a person without experience. It is important for me that the employee is interested in earning money, not receiving it.

Cliche phrases are often written on resumes: determination, responsibility, opportunity for career growth. You can look through dozens of profiles and not find a single worthy candidate. How can we talk about any serious career growth in a travel agency? This work is very interesting, despite all the difficulties that you have to face every day. Increasing wages in tourism depends not only on management, but also on the employee himself. During the interview, I ask the question: “Are you ready to make efforts to attract new clients? If yes, which ones? If not, why not? Many applicants are willing to receive a small flat fee and not have to do anything else. I will refuse such an employee.

Personal qualities for professional growth

In tourism, attentiveness is very important, because a minor mistake in writing the personal data of tourists can lead not only to a fine, but also to the threat of trip disruption.

Punctuality, the desire to develop independently and constantly learn play an important role. Exploring new countries, excursion routes - isn’t it interesting?

And, of course, responsibility is extremely important! Here is an example, or rather, my nightmare, which I really hope will never happen in practice. A tourist must fly away on a long-awaited vacation and needs to get a visa. The employee carefully fills out all the documents and takes them for delivery. On the way, he loses his tourist passport. You can borrow money and pay for a tourist, but what to do with a lost passport?! To say that after this trust will be lost is to say nothing!

We teach you how to travel and sell travel

A travel agent can receive education at specialized higher educational institutions. When there was a boom in tourism, there were many educational courses on tourism. Now the industry is in decline - not only travel agencies are closing, but also educational institutions. But having a diploma, unfortunately, doesn’t mean anything.

Tourist routine

In fact, a travel agent has a lot of responsibilities: from maintaining cleanliness in the workplace to being ready to respond to their clients at any time of the day or night. The motto of our agency is: “Your personal consultant 24 hours.” The agent's schedule is irregular, especially during peak seasons. In the off-season the load is less. I do not force all employees to be at the workplace when there is no workload. Some are engaged in self-development, others come up with methods to optimize their work and attract new clients. I welcome and encourage this.

Each agency has regular clients, and we maintain their files. We store all the data so that we don’t have to ask you to send the same documents every time. We keep a history of trips, wishes, comments. Our regular clients do not need to explain what they want to get from their vacation. They only say dates and wishes for choosing a country. Everything else is our work. Moreover, this part of routine duties is the most creative, providing an opportunity to please and surprise the client, to guess his desires.

Nothing to hide

In other industries, the practice of non-interference by a specialist in a client’s decision has been adopted. With us it's the other way around. If we are talking about regular clients, then I already know what they need, and I advise based on their preferences. But if a client chooses a country or a hotel himself, I always talk about the nuances that can ruin the vacation or upset the tourist. But I never insist. This is a person’s personal choice, and must be taken into account.

For example, a couple of years ago, several of my clients wanted to go to Egypt for the New Year. I didn’t refuse them and lose clients. The result, I think, is well known. The Egyptian route was closed, and the issue of refunding the funds had to be resolved. One could say: “Take care of yourself, you chose this country, now these are your problems.” But I can’t afford it, and for several months I fought with partners to return the funds to my tourists.

Nervous work

There have always been and will always be difficult clients. It’s very difficult with people who are used to criticizing everything and seeing bad things even where they don’t exist. It’s difficult with those who first ask about the size of the discount, without even saying what they want. Any work must be financially rewarded.

The situation in the tourism market is very difficult now. The crisis, sanctions, imperfect legislation and, unfortunately, dishonesty and financial dishonesty of partners have a very negative impact on the agent’s position in the market. After all, a tourist comes to the agency and trusts us, but we are not the last authority and cannot control or influence all the links that are involved in this process. Unfortunately, this cannot always be explained, and some colleagues face their clients in court, although the agent did his job 100% or more. But the argument is simple: “We came to you, so you should be responsible for everyone.”

Profession without career

The manager's job is a bit routine from a technical point of view. But it is very diverse: new clients, new requests, new countries, new hotels. Career development occurs in a horizontal plane. There is no step-by-step promotion from an ordinary employee to the director of your own agency. I can’t call this a career prospect; I consider it more of a transition to a new level. For an agency director, knowledge of tourism alone is not enough; he must understand both accounting and legislation, and know the work of a manager. You can hire employees who will be responsible for a certain segment of work, but this is financially expensive. I know several examples of former agency directors who closed their companies and went back to being hired employees because they did not want the huge responsibility on their shoulders.

Sometimes employees leave. Some went to larger agencies, some went to a tour operator, and some, completely disappointed, left tourism altogether. Some people don’t even want to hear about tourism anymore, others remember this experience with warmth!

One of my partners had a travel agency in another country. Everything got boring and she closed it. I went on vacation to Georgia, and fell in love with this country so much that I stayed there and opened... yes, yes, a travel agency! She studied the history of Georgia and, being a director herself, often accompanies groups as a guide.

“Work for the young”?

Many people believe that a tourism manager is a job only for young people. But I don’t agree that in tourism, employees over forty years old are rare specimens. On one information tour I met an agent who was 72 years old! She has more enthusiasm and energy than some young girls. I really respect such people.

Tourism manager is a specialist in the tourism industry who organizes tourist trips for clients. Currently, this is one of the most sought-after professions in the leisure and entertainment industry. The profession is suitable for those who are interested in foreign languages, geography and social studies (see choosing a profession based on interest in school subjects).

Salary

Salary as of 06/06/2019

Russia 15000—100000 ₽

Moscow 30000—130000 ₽

Short description

The tourism manager makes our dreams come true about the vacation that each of us looks forward to. From the outside it seems that this is the most romantic and interesting profession - a holiday every day, the opportunity to travel to distant countries on duty.

But these are different things - to relax on your own or to competently organize a problem-free vacation, which depends on many people and circumstances.

Tourism manager is a generalized name for a profession that is multifunctional. There are generalist specialists who can single-handedly organize a tourist’s trip from start to finish, but most often travel companies (tour operators) practice division of labor by specialization: customer service manager, ticket reservation manager, destination manager, visa manager and insurance, business tourism organization manager, etc. A tourism manager without work experience can handle each of these specialties separately under the guidance of a more experienced specialist. In large companies, organizing a tourist trip resembles the work of a conveyor belt: at each stage of organizing a tour, different specialists are involved in the matter.

Specifics of the profession

The functional responsibilities of a tourism manager depend on where he works: in a tour operator or in a travel agency. In a tour operator, managers are involved in the development and formation of tourist routes, and in travel agencies, as a rule, they sell tours to clients.

Responsibilities of a tourism manager working in a tour operator:

• route development;
• preparation of excursion programs and entertainment;
• hotel reservations;
• purchase of tickets for regular flights;
• organization of charter flights;
• negotiations with the receiving party;
• registration of insurance and visas;
• formation of tour packages;
• concluding agreements with travel agencies;
• conducting advertising campaigns;
• resolution of conflict situations with representatives of the receiving party.

In travel agencies, the job of a tourism manager is as follows:

• receiving calls;
• consulting potential clients (in person and by phone);
• provision of guides, catalogs, maps;
• study of offers on the market and optimal selection of tours at the client’s request;
• interaction with managers from tour operators;
• execution of an agreement with the client.

There are travel companies that combine the functions of a travel agency and a tour operator.

Pros and cons of the profession

pros

• the prospects of the industry as a whole and the constant demand for personnel;
• the opportunity to visit many countries as part of work or on last-minute trips and special offers on vacation;
• high salary level;
• the versatility of the tourism manager profession allows you to work with any level of education and experience; there is a job for anyone; There are no strict educational qualifications when hiring.

Minuses

• high responsibility;
• frequent stressful situations in the event of production discrepancies and force majeure circumstances (an airplane may be delayed, a natural disaster or war may break out, tourists may not be released by customs, etc.);
• trips to different countries are of a production nature and it is impossible to completely relax and enjoy your vacation;
• tourists can bother you with calls at any time of the day, and the manager needs to calmly react and answer questions that arise, resolve problems with the host party in favor of the client;
• seasonality of work and dependence on this level of salary.

Training to become a tourism manager (Education)

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— Diploma of professional retraining of the established form;
— Training in a completely distance format;
— The largest educational institution of additional professional education. education in Russia.

Invites you to receive a diploma in your specialty at professional retraining courses. The Academy specializes in additional education programs, offers a convenient distance learning format, an individual approach to the needs of students and flexible prices.

Provides an opportunity, without interruption from work and place of residence, to acquire a new profession in the direction of “Domestic and international tourism” on the basis of an existing higher or secondary specialized vocational education. The programs have state accreditation, therefore state-issued documents are issued.

Colleges

Training to become a tourism manager within the specialties “Tourism”, “Management (by industry)” or “Organization Management” (with a specialization in “Tourism”) is offered in more than 20 Moscow colleges, including:

• at the Humanitarian College of the Russian State University for the Humanities
• Humanitarian College of Innovative Technologies
• Small Business College No. 48
• College of the International Academy of Business and Management.

Upon completion, graduates receive a diploma with the qualification “Tourist Services Specialist”

Place of work

• travel agencies
• tour operators

Personal qualities

• high stress resistance;
• iron restraint and self-control;
• communication skills;
• organizational skills;
• personal organization;
• eloquence;
• diplomacy;
• charm;
• good memory;
• the ability to persuade an interlocutor;
• responsibility;
• flexibility of thinking.

Career

An aspiring tourism manager may apply for the position of assistant manager, whose responsibilities include working the telephone or talking with clients. In the future, he may become a customer service manager. The average salary of a tourism manager consists of a fixed part and percentages. Specialists with five years of experience and their own client base can count on double the salary. In the future, a tourism manager may become a deputy director of a travel agency and even a director. Tour operators provide a richer experience in tourism than travel agencies. Here you can master all the specializations of the profession in organizing a tour from beginning to end. With proper diligence and the desire to master all the secrets of the profession, you can grow to the position of a top manager who actually manages the tourism business and is responsible for increasing the company’s profits, developing and expanding the market. His responsibilities include signing important contracts, conducting negotiations, conducting competent advertising policies, and marketing research. Accordingly, their salary level is high.

A travel manager or tour coordinator has a high status in tour operators, whose responsibilities include the development of individual and corporate tours. As a rule, they must have excellent knowledge of resorts, hotels, entry regimes into different countries, be able to work with accounts, credit cards, and book hotels and air tickets. Travel managers enter into contracts with the host party, so they must be fluent in at least English, have the skills to prepare commercial proposals and conduct negotiations, and know and follow the rules of business etiquette.

Business tourism managers who have to deal with businessmen who are accustomed to high standards of service, clarity and punctuality, regardless of force majeure circumstances, are also considered elite specialists.

Over time, many successful managers who have mastered the technology of promoting tourist destinations from start to finish can open their own business.