Tourism and cruise placements

Travel and Tourism is a large growing source of employment. The industry supports 3.1 million jobs, equivalent to nearly 10% of the UK workforce (ABTA 2013). The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (2013) revealed the industry is relatively positive: job growth in Travel & Tourism is forecast to average 1.9% per year over the next decade, compared with 1.2% annual growth forecast for total jobs in the global economy.

Starting out

Tourism is a comprehensive sector which includes travel agents, accommodation, cruise liners, food and beverage services, hotels, holiday resorts, sports and active leisure. Having a placement will enable you to apply your theoretical knowledge to a real work place, whilst gaining professional experience and graduate skills.

Starting to look for a placement

To assist you in your search, you may want to consider the following 7 areas to focus your placement ideas. Make a speculative application to any of these listed companies, asking about the possibility of having a placement with them. Tailor your CV and covering email/letter to the organisation and positively describe the skills, experience and knowledge you would bring to such a position

1. Local authorities Consider Southampton City Council, Tourism South East, Visit Britain or your nearest council

2. Online business and travel agents Look up Trip Adviser, Booking.com and Lastminute.com in addition to travel agents such as Thomas Cook and STA, Ocean World Travel and Co-Operative Travel

3. Airports and flight/travel operatorsInvestigate large and regional airport like Southampton, Heathrow, Bournemouth or Gatwick. Also consider airlines like British Airways, Thompson, Monarch and Virgin Atlantic.

4. Holiday companies and tour operators Research holiday companies like Sunshine and First Choice and tour operators, such as Trailfinders, Scenic Tours and James Villa

5. Cruise linesConsider large and small cruise companies such as P&O, Costa Line, Disney, Holland America and MCS

6. Hospitality and hotelsLarge Hotel chains like Hilton Hotel, Marriott Hotel, Premier Inn, Travel Lodge and Ibis Smaller Hotel chains such McDonald Botley Park Hotel

7. Large and major companiesLarge companies have many departments that you might want to gain experience in like HR, marketing, sales, finance and reservations: Why not investigate some of these companies: Carnival, TUI, Hilton and Premier Inn

Previous placement providers around Southampton

Check out these local companies that have taken on SSU students on in the past for placement opportunities.

Ferry companies: Blue Funnel Ferries and Red Funnel FerriesHotels: The Grand harbour Hotel, Jurys Inn and New Park Manor HotelTravel agents: Bath Travel, Ocean World travel , Thomas Cook, Bon Voyage Travel and STAMuseums: Sea City Museum and the Mary Rose Museum

Other previous placement employers

SSU students have been also have work experience in a variety of roles with these companies. Make a professional speculative application to any of these, asking about the possibility of having a placement with them:

National Trust, Hotel prince regent, Regent Seven Seas, The Montague on the Gardens Hotel, Thorpe Park, The Leap, National Trust - Mottisfont Abbey and Hyatt Regency

What tourism and cruise graduates do after graduating?

By undertaking work experience, you’ll obtain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the industry and increase your chances of achieving a graduate or managerial level job. See below for some companies that employed tourism or cruise graduates. Use these for some ideas of places to explore and contact.

Cabin Crew – Cathay Pacific Airways Marketing Assistant – Tourism South East Training Executive – Tourism South East Reservations – Carnival UK Hotel Manager – The Blue Keys Hotel Personal Reservations Consultant – Carnival UK Business Development Executive – Norad Travel Group Personal Cruise Specialist – Royal Caribbean International Training Executive – Tourism South East Operations Graduate – Premier Inn Hospitality Executive – Mitchell and Butlers

Placement websites

To help you with your placement search, try these placement websites to help you.

Graduate Job South RateMyPlacement CareerBox (myCourse login required) – CareerBox is an online recourse to boost

employability and improve your future placement/job search.