Tourism : Opportunities abroad

Depending on the employer, there are plenty of opportunities to work overseas.

What are my chances of getting a job overseas?

It is possible to have an international career with the major leisure travel groups, as they have offices in other countries and vacancies may be advertised throughout the organisation.

Working as a resort representative is an obvious way of getting a placement abroad. The reps often spend the summer season working in one country and winter in another location, depending on their language skills and experience. Many travel agents and tour operators also have overseas reps positions, which involve sourcing and finding out about resorts that they can add to their portfolio to sell to the consumer.

Those working for tour operators in contracts or product development may travel abroad regularly as part of their job.

Working within the cruise industry allows you to travel to many different countries depending on the company that you work for. The UK market is strong, with new liners launched in 2007 to meet the demands of the market. The expanding cruise industry in Europe generated 311,000 jobs in 2008, according to the European Cruise Council.

Will my qualifications be recognised?

British qualifications are well regarded and this sector is particularly favourable to qualification transferability. Be prepared to familiarise yourself with the educational structure in the country that interests you, so that you can provide an indication of the comparable level of your academic achievements when writing an application. Your university careers service may have an international employment information section that would be helpful.

Where are the opportunities?

There are opportunities to work in most overseas countries in the tourism industry, but some provide more jobs than others. The USA, Japan and northern European countries have strong outbound tourism industries. Others such as Greece, Spain, Australia and New Zealand welcome many more visitors than they export and so work as resort reps or in inbound tourism are more likely here. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)   produces detailed profiles for every country worldwide, giving headline facts and figures as well as outlining cultural, economic and historical information and its relationship with the UK.