Tour Operator : Job Prospects & Career Options

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An increasing number of people are now giving preference to hiring a tour operator, in order to make their holiday a comfortable and convenient one.

Tour operators are responsible for organising and preparing holiday tours. They sell holiday packages or offers through different avenues like travel agents or by marketing them directly to the public by means of displaying brochures and travel websites. A tour operator collects and provides data related to different holiday and travel destinations to his customer. A tour operator needs to look into everything to make passengers happy and comfortable during their tour. They take care of all tasks related to travel, so that their customer does not have to bother about them while traveling.

Tour operators work involve lot of travel as they need to visit new destinations to research possible hotels, excursions and local attractions. Their job also include creating complicated itineraries and travel arrangements with airlines, coach operators, train and other transport companies, to include all the elements that clients require for their holiday. They also advise the clients about travel issues including required documentation and financial matters, such as appropriate exchange rates. They even inform the clients about the cultural intricacies of a place.

Some tour operators concentrate on providing trips in certain specialised areas such as leisure, adventure, pilgrim, trekking or trips to historical sites. Others may specialise in business tourism which includes organising conferences and other events.

The best option available to a tour operator, is to start his/her own tour/travel agency. However, before establishing his/her own venture, one should have enough practical experience in conducting tours. Above all, one should have adequate capital to start a tour company. However, one can also work with tour/travel companies as a tour operator. They can seek suitable employment opportunities in government tourism departments too.