Learn, Travel, Earn - Train for Your Dream Job
Tourism is a huge employer worldwide and in many countries it is the largest employer. In short, this is a significant industry that employs large numbers of people. Despite this fact, many of those who work in tourism are relatively low paid.
If you aspire to a well paid and secure job in tourism you either need to think about self employment (starting your own tourism business), or developing skills that will enable you to rise to a position of responsibility in a larger organisation such as a hotel, resort or theme park.
This course provides the skills and knowledge needed to build a career, following either of these pathways.
Modules
Note that each module in the Certificate in Tourism is a short course in its own right, and may be studied separately.
WORKING AS A TOUR MANAGER OR OPERATOR
Tour managers take the difficulty out of holidays. They coordinate and arrange tour, travel, and holiday packages that coordinate a range of different services, including flights, transportation, accommodation, sight seeing, food, and any other necessary services. This can make travelling more appealing for people who are either time poor, or overwhelmed by the notion of having to organise all this themselves. Tours will also offer the added bonus of being able to offer clients authentic experiences due to local knowledge that the customers may not be able to access otherwise. Tour operators are responsible for planning, creating, organizing, and marketing the tour, as well as booking clients in, operating the tour, giving advice, and solving any problems that arise.
Opportunities
Tour operators may work for themselves, or they may work for larger companies. Job opportunities include:
- Working for yourself
- Working in a small, specialised company
- Working on cruise ships
- Working for a hotel or resort
- Working for a major international tour operator
Depending on the company, the role can vary to include all tasks involved in delivering tour packages, or the tour operator may be required to do just one or more task that they specialise in, for example leading the tour, taking bookings, negotiating deals with service providers, etc.
There are many different sectors of the market that tours can service. For example, tours for older people, tours for young travellers on their first overseas trip, adventure or eco tourism, holidays for families, etc. One of the latest areas in tours is voluntourism, where people will spend part of their trip touring around a country, and the other part participating in some form of volunteer work.
Although people are looking to the internet to book their tours, there is still a need for tourism operators to create the tours (as well as the website content). To be a successful tourism operator, you will need to have a good online presence, and be creative, innovative, and up to date with trends.
Risks and challenges
Access to information on the internet may threaten tourism operators as they exist today, however savvy tourism operators will be able to capitalise on the opportunities the internet offers (such as exposure to a global market).
The work may be seasonal, depending on the company you work for.
You will be dealing with people in an environment that is unfamiliar to them. Your clients may be stressed and difficult to deal with at times.
You will be required to resolve issues that inevitably arrive, for example lost luggage, stolen camera, missed connections, booking errors, etc.
How to become a Tourism Manager or Operator
There is no specific qualification that you need to become a tourism operator, although some training in tourism and hospitality will greatly benefit you. It you are delivering specialist tours, such as eco tours, you will need to have an appropriate level of knowledge about the tours you are leading. Vocational training may be sufficient to develop your skills and knowledge.
Other attributes that you will need include:
- Being an effective communicator
- Being interested in travel
- Being culturally sensitive
- Having the ability to use computers and computer programs
- A knowledge about travel destinations
- Basic administration skills
The majority of these skills can be learnt on the job. People will often start in this industry in a low level role, then move their way up to become a tourism operator. As mentioned, many of the necessary skills can be learnt on the job, however more in depth knowledge can be learnt through tourism, hospitality, or similar training which will be greatly beneficial for your career.
Other related jobs might include
- Hospitality Manager
- Hotel Manager
- Tourism Agent
- Bed and Breakfast Manager
- Tour Guide
- Ecotourism Guide
- Nature Park Manager
Content of Core Modules
Food & Beverage Management
This subject has 9 lessons as follows:
1.Human Nutrition - This covers all the major food groups and their importance in a nutritional diet. Also including factors in nutrition from compatibility and range of ingredients through to healthy cooking and eating methods.
2.Cooking - Includes various cooking methods for a variety of different foods, covering both palatability and digestibility through to the nutritional value in processing foods.
3.Kitchen & Food Management - Learn to maximise efficiency and service through proper management of kitchen facilities, including the handling of food storage and preparation, hygiene and ethics.
4.Planning A Menu - Covering menu planning for the needs of special groups in different situations, including children; adolescents; elderly people; expectant and nursing mothers; immigrants; vegetarians and other health related diets.
5.Alcoholic Beverages - Learn how to provide adequate variety and product knowledge in order to manage the provisions of alcoholic beverages appropriately for different situations.
6.Tea, Coffee and Non-Alcoholic Beverages - This lesson provides an understanding of non-alcoholic beverages available in the catering industry and how they should be made and served.
7.Scope & Nature Of Catering Services - Learn to understand the differences in appropriate management and catering for a variety of situations from pubs to a-la-carte.
8.Personnel Management -(waiting skills, staffing a restaurant, kitchen etc) This lesson covers the management of people in the food and restaurant industry, including training programs, job specifications, recruitment etc.
9.Management Of Catering Services - By consolidating the skills developed throughout this course you are given a comprehensive understanding of marketing through to food purchasing in order to effectively manage in the food and beverage industry.
Tourism 1
There are ten lessons in this module as follows:
- Travel Industry Overview/Introduction : oliday travel, Business travel, Resources, Components of travel (Accommodation, Transport, Food, Luggage/what to take, Health, Money, etc)
- Destinations : Local, State, Interstate, International; health before departure.
- Money, Insurance & Legalities : Credit cards, travellers cheques, exchange rates, International driving, quarantine laws, Islamic law, political concerns, tariffs, duty free, departure taxes etc.
- Transport - Airline reservations : International Air Transport Assn, Aircraft types, Flight information, transfers, time zones, passports, visas, baggage, travelling with animals, making a reservation, etc.
- Transport - Car Rental : Types of hire cars, reading manuals, different road rules, making reservations, cost structures, etc
- Transport -Other, boat (ferries, cruising), bus, rail etc
- Accommodation : Camping, Caravans, Tents, B & B's & Guesthouses, Hotels, Youth Hostels, Resorts, etc
- Package Tours
- Travel Agency Systems : Ethics, Tourist organisations, Client records and accounts procedures, etc.
- Special Project -planning a trip
Bookkeeping Foundations
There are 13 lessons as follows:
- Introduction – Nature, Scope and Function of Bookkeeping
- The Balance Sheet
- Analysing and Designing Accounting Systems
- Double Entry Bookkeeping
- Cash Receipts and Cash Payments Journal
- Credit Sales, Fees and Purchases Journals
- The General Journal
- The Closing of the General Ledger
- Profit and Loss Statements
- Depreciation of Non-current Assets
- Profit Determination and Balance Day Adjustments
- Cash Control: Bank Reconciliations and Petty Cash
- Cash Control: Budgeting
Event Management
There are nine lessons in this module as follows:
- Scope and Nature of Event Management
- Developing the Concept
- Physical an Human Resources
- Project Logistics
- Marketing an Event
- Financial Management
- Risk Management
- Staging the Event
- After the Event
Where Can This Course Take Me?
To reach your potential you need to make use of the unique mixture of
experience, knowledge and personality that only you can bring to a job.
This course can provide the foundation in tourism principles and
hospitality management skills you'll need. Add your own unique stamp and
ambition, and the sky's the limit!
Are
you a natural-born encourage, who loves to help others make their
dreams a reality? Then consider using this Certificate as a stepping stone to a role in:
- Travel Agency staff/management
- Tour-management
- Tour-design
- Tourism Development Officer
- Study-abroad programs
- Student Exchange programs
Are your organised, with attention to detail and high standards, a
person who likes to go the extra mile for the comfort of others? This
qualification could lead to a career in:
- Bed & Breakfast Owner/Operator
- Hotel or Resort Management
- Tour Guide
- Ecotourism Owner/Manager
- Local Tourism Specialist/Operator
- Travel Advisor
- Tourism Development Officer
- International Student Coordinator
- Student Exchange programs
Studying with ACS can give you the foundational
knowledge you need and the confidence to apply it in pursuit of your
ideal career. Our carefully designed course includes core modules and
electives selected by you - you can build the Certificate in Tourism to
match your own personal talents and aspirations. It's a course that can
take you to where you want to go.
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