Step 5 Developing reading skills

Read a passage from the book by V. Reily Collins ‘Working in Tourism’ and he ready to discuss it.

TOUR OPERATORS

Tour operators vary in size from the local coach company selling a dozen short tours a year, up to the giants such as the German company TUI and the Swiss company Kuoni which send millions of clients to all comers of the world. Many jobs exist in the Outgoing Tour market, e.g. a British tour operator selling tours to British people who fly off to holiday in Greece, Spain, Italy or a hundred other countries. For the general market they will employ staff selected in Britain principally because package tourists often prefer to be looked after by a compatriot and also the selection process is so long and involved that it is just not practicable to employ nationals of the destination countries.

Most tour operators interview in their country and send the selected staff out at the beginning of the season to stay in the resort for the duration the season. Although this means that the majority of staff do not speak the language fluently, most tour operators do not consider this a priority. As one major operator says, perhaps a trifle optimistically, ‘Anyone who speaks one foreign language will find it easy to learn another; and anyway most locals in a resort speak English.’

Because of price wars, the mass-market operators make little or no money on selling holidays. Instead their profits derive from selling excursions and, to a lesser extent, duty-free goods on their chartered aircraft.

If you don’t feel comfortable with this emphasis on selling, you will have

to try to find work with a more up-market operator who does not rely on excursion sales.

Some tour operators advertise a training course for which you have to pay. To ensure that applicants are serious about the work, these companies insist that they put their money where their mouths are. Normally this training fee will be refunded after you have worked for the company for a certain length of time.

In many cases the recruiting departments of tour operators are open only during recruitment period. Then when they have chosen the required number of staff to close the department down and go to work in the reservations departments or wherever needed.

Large companies like Thomson Tour Operations and Airtours employ so many people to service their estimated three million customers that they publish a large-format brochure about their requirements, which can be requested from the Overseas Personnel Office. As is the case with most of the major companies, Thomson and Airtours employ reps, entertainers and ski resort staff. Their reps must have all the usual qualities (flexibility, diplomacy, etc) and preferably knowledge of French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, or German. There may be an assumption that you have a commitment to make tourism a career, though this is not essential.

REPS

Acting as a company rep in a foreign country gives you a unique chance to meet locals and become part of the local scene. The most important thing a company needs to know about new reps is whether or not they will fit in with the profile of a team. Knowledge of a European language is always requested. But even if the language requirements are not very rigorous, candidates should show that they are at least interested in learning about foreign cultures including the language. As you progress up the company ladder and are offered jobs as a senior rep or manager, then you will need to speak the local language.

A tour operator needs staff whocan be flexible No company wants their staff to have outside interestswhich might interfere with their work. Once trained in the company ways,c.g. to sendin correct company paperwork, sell the company excursions andwork the way the company wants, a rep can be transferredfrom oneresort to another, sometimes one country to another, at short notice. Once youhave a season or two of experience you should be given a sayin where yougo Reps are expected to work six or seven days a weekbetween seven and fourteen hoursevery day depending on whether transfers,hotels check-ins, welcome meetings, excursions, client visits, etc are scheduled. Time off is seldom enough to do much independent travelling. Most reps spend their day off catching up on a beach. The industry demands total dedication.

If there is a strike and 40 clients are suddenly rerouted to another airport you will just have to miss the party to which you had been looking forward. If there is a crisis, you could end up working up to 36 hours at a stretch, and are expected to be smiling at the end of it.

Considering the rigours and pressures of the job of package tour company representative, wages are low, though of course accommodation, travel and some other perks are provided. It is self-evident that reps look after holiday-makers, remaining aware of the consequences of giving bad advice. Obviously medical emergencies are the most serious problem which reps may face. For instance, if an elderly client has a heart attack or a young tearaway has a serious accident on a hired moped. The situation becomes even more difficult if your employers have told you to do anything apart from summon help for fear that relatives may later sue if the rep had taken the wrong steps.

For your peace of mind, try to take a reputable lifesaving course before taking on a rep’s responsibilities.