A Tourism Entrepreneur is a person who undertakes a risk to start up their own business.  This risk could end up making a profit or dishing up a loss.

An Entrepreneur usually has a vision, dream or an idea which, with a lot of hard work, they try and make work.  A Tourism Entrepreneur therefore, will have a ‘idea’ which will hopefully work in the tourism industry. 

What does a Tourism Entrepreneur do?

• defining what area of tourism you want your business to be in
• researching the tourism industry and tourism trends
• writing a business plan
• planning a working schedule
• liaising with bank manager for a loan
• hiring and firing the right people
• working long hours to make sure your business takes off
• marketing your business
• networking with people in the industry that will benefit your business

Are you … ?

• interested in the tourism market?
• driven?
• committed?
• competitive?
• a risk-taker?
• innovative?
• enthusiastic?
• a person who takes control of their own destiny?
• able to deal with stress?

How do I become a Tourism Entrepreneur?

Obviously, besides being a risk taker, one needs some form of business training to help you with your business plan.

Some basic accounting and business subjects would be advantageous or highly recommended. A certificate or diploma in Business would also be extremely beneficial.

If you are taking the economic risk, you really need to be skilled with the right experience and qualifications, otherwise you may lose a lot of money in the process.

Here are some institutions that offer relevant courses:

• CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY: (CPUT)

Offers a 3 year National Diploma in Entrepreneurship as well as a BTech course.

Minimum requirements: English, Mathematics or Maths Literacy, Economics and/or Accounting

• VARSITY COLLEGE

Offers a Diploma in Business Management & Entrepreneurship

Extra information:

If you want to start a tourism business, you may attend a FREE 1-day Beginner’s Session with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism. 

For further info contact: 
Phone:  021 483 0132
E-mail: clcuba@pgwc.gov.za
or visit the website:  www.capegateway.gov.za/toursim_business

Contact your local Tourism Helpdesk in your region:

• CAPE TOWN 

Catherine Colling:  021 487 6800, catherinec@tourismcapetown.co.za

• CAPE WINELANDS/CENTRAL KAROO

Marian Mercuur: Tel 082 493 8161, blackstove@mweb.co.za

• EDEN

Quinton James:  082 552 3372, sqtours@mweb.co.za

• OVERBERG

Joseph Tala:  028 572 1251, joe@tourism.com

• WEST COAST

022 487 2989, swartland@cornergate.com

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Food and Beverage Manager or Adventure Gour Guide

Is becoming a Tourism Entrepreneur the right career choice for me?

See below for more info.

A Tour Operator is usually responsible for creating and co-ordinating package holidays.  They work independently or for large tour companies. 

These packaged vacations usually include:

• all necessary travel arrangements (flights, airport shuttles, busses, boat, trains, etc)
• accommodation
• entrance fees to museums, art galleries, parks, historical sites and other places of interest etc

Some Tour Operators specialise in a particular field of vacations. 

For example:

• wildlife photography holidays
• art & painting holidays
• adventure holidays (gorilla trekking, climbing Kilimanjaro etc)
• golfing holidays
• walking (slack-packing) holidays
• 4×4 holidays etc

If a Tour Operator specialises – then they usually come with in-depth knowledge and passion for that kind of tour.  This is necessary as guests will have a load of questions and the Tour Operator will need to be on top of their game and be ready, most of the time, with the answers.

What does a Tour Operator do?

• researching and visiting new places of interest so that they may be included in a ‘new’ tour
• meeting with local communities to discuss possible inclusions in tours
• planning and co-ordinating itineraries
• working out costings
• making bookings, paying deposits, issuing tickets
• printing out itineraries for clients
• assisting clients with any queries
• dealing with problems:  lost luggage, delayed flights etc
• sometimes traveling with their tour group
• keeping detailed records

Are you … ?

• interested in the travel industry?
• a peoples’ person?
• organised?
• polite and professional?
• friendly and patient?
• detail orientated?
• fit and healthy?
• a person with logistical skills?
• a problem solver?
• willing to work long and unusual hours?
• have excellent communication skills
• enthusiastic and energetic?
• able to remain calm in emergencies?

How do I become a Tour Operator?

There are no direct ways of becoming a Tour Operator.

You may consider first becoming a Tour Guide for a couple of years and collect experience along route before becoming a Tour Operator or, you could complete various courses in tourism that will assist you in becoming a successful Tour Operator. 

Obviously the more skills you collect, the more successful you will be.

Here are a few examples:

• COLLEGE CAMPUS

Offers a 3 year Diploma in Travel and Tourism Management

http://collegecampus.co.za/site/

• BOSTON CITY CAMPUS

Offers a few courses including a 3 year Travel and Tourism Operations Certificate – NQF Level 4

http://www.boston.co.za/index.php/qualifications/career-qualifications/hospitality-and-leisure/travel-and-tourism-operations/

• UNISA

Offers a 6 month course in Tour Operators Management

http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=18620

• DRUMBEAT ACADEMY

Offers a short course in Tour Operations.

http://www.drumbeatacademy.co.za/index.php

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Tour Guide, Tour Manager and Travel Agent 

Is becoming a Tour Operator the right career choice for me?

See below for more info.

A Travel Agent usually works for a travel agency or freelance for themselves.

They are responsible for researching and booking all travel arrangements on behalf of their clients.  These customers can be private individuals or corporate clients.

Travel Agents often have access to cheaper fares and specials on accommodation which they can pass these on to their clients.

Some Travel Agents may specialise in a particular field.

For example:

• corporate travel
• honeymoons
• overland holidays
• student travel
• cruises etc

What does a Travel Agent do?

• helping people plan their dream vacations
• suggesting new and exciting places
• providing foreign country regulations
• providing advice on cross cultural customs and expectations
• booking and issuing tickets for various forms of transport
• booking accommodation
• arranging a rental cars and/or airport shuttle services
• traveling to various destinations to ‘try them out’ before recommending them
• working out itineraries
• organising visas and passports
• recommending appropriate vaccinations/medications, for example yellow fever, or malaria
• working with costings and budgets
• taking payments
• displaying and issuing brochures

Are you … ?

• passionate about travel?
• a peoples’ person?
• interested in geography?
• detail orientated?
• a good communicator?
• organised?
• efficient?
• neat and professional?
• interested in sales?

How do I become a Travel Agent?

A lot of institutions offer courses, certificates and diplomas in some form of tourism.  Check with your local institution whether they do.

• Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) and a Bachelor of Commerce degree (specialising in tourism or tourism management) can be done at some universities.
• National Diplomas in Tourism Management or Travel & Tourism can be done at most universities of technology.
• There are some private institutions too, that offer courses in tourism.

Minimum requirements: Grade 12, geography and maths or accountancy.
 

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Tour Manager and Hotel/Resort Receptionist

Is becoming a Travel Agent the right career choice for me? 

See below for more info.

Do you enjoy working with people? Does a career in tourism interest you? Do you have a knack for details? Then becoming a Reservations or Ticket Clerk may be a career that would interest you.

As a Reservations & Ticket Clerk you must love working with people and be able to work with difficult customers.

Reservations & Ticket Clerks have excellent people and organizational skills.

What does a Reservations & Ticket Clerk do?

• planning itineraries
• determining space/seat availability
• confirming reservations
• answering customer inquiries
• preparing invoices
• providing customer with all essential travel information
• dealing with customer complaints

Are you … ?

• interested in the travel industry?
• a peoples’ person?
• organised?
• polite and professional?
• friendly?
• patient?
• detail orientated?

How do I become a Reservation and Ticket Clerk?

To become a Reservations Clerk you will need a high school diploma and some customer service experience.

Most of your training will be on the job so you will learn a lot in this job.

However, if you train yourself up with some courses, you may just jump ahead of the rest of job seekers. 

Here is an example:

• GTA TRAVEL ACADEMY

Offers Junior, Intermediate and Senior Travel Consultant courses and a National Certificate in Travel. 

http://www.travelacademy.co.za/index.asp

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Travel Consultant and Guest Liaison

Is becoming a Reservations & Ticket Clerk the right career choice for me?

See below for more info.

OFO No: 4224

What is a Hotel / Resort Receptionist?

A Hotel/Resort Receptionist is the first person guests speak to at the establishment. 

They work at the front desk and make sure that all the guests’ needs are taken care of. 

They make sure, too, that guests are made to feel welcome at all times.

Most hotels or resorts require a high school certificate or equivalent, though some may have higher education in this field.

What does a Hotel / Resort Receptionist do?

• meets and greet guests and making them feel welcome
• answers the phone and takes reservations
• maintains records of bookings and has a good filing system
• maintains a neat and tidy work area
• assigns rooms to guests and explains check-out times and meals etc
• draws up the guest bills and takes payments
• assisst guests where necessary

Are you … ?

• interested in the hospitality industry?
• a people’s person?
• polite, friendly and positive?
• neat and professional?
• organised and methodical?
• able to read and write?
• good at mathematics?
• computer literate?
• caring and helpful?
• able to speak more than one language?  This would be advantageous!
• a person with a good, clear speaking voice?

How do I become a Hotel / Resort Receptionist?

Most Hotel Receptionists have some form of hospitality or relevant admin qualification.

Hotel Receptionists are specialised receptionists. Some have studied their qualification through a hotel school.

Check with various hotel schools and other training institutions for different courses.

TRAINING:

• CLICK HERE to check for a training institution near you to see what they offer.
• Make sure you understand their entry requirements for each course.
• To avoid scams, make sure your institution is registered with the Department of Higher Education. 
• CLICK HERE to check accredited Private Higher Education Institutions. 

PATH 1

Learnership – Hospitality Reception Level 4 

PATH 2

Certificate in Guesthouse Management 

PATH 3

Higher Certificate in Hospitality Management 

Advanced Certificate in Hospitality Management 

PATH 4

Diploma in Hospitality Management

Bachelor of Technology (BTech) in Hospitality Management

PATH 5

Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management 

PATH 6

Bachelor degree in Hospitality Management

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Receptionist … or … Guest Liaison

Is becoming a Hotel / Resort Receptionist the right career choice for me?

OFO No:

What is a Tourism Marketing Manager?

A Tourism Marketing Manager will work for a tourism company, coach or tour company, or other tourist related organisation.

They will be in charge of the marketing and advertising campaigns for these companies. 

A Tourism Marketing Manager must be confident and able to put the company first and make sure it gets all the advertising and exposure possible.

This is an important position in the company as your work and input will directly influence the growth of the company.

What does a Tourism Marketing Manager do?

• plans the days schedule
• works on and writes copy for brochures
• attends shows like the Indaba Travel Show
• networks
• liaises with official tourism organisations

Are you … ?

• interested in tourism and marketing?
• a good communicator?
• computer literate?
• a person with great inter-personal skills?
• a leader?
• able to deal with stress?
• able to stick to deadlines?
• able to write articles for publication?
• a multi-tasker?

How do I become a Tourism Marketing Manager?

A marketing management course (certificate, diploma or degree) are available from various colleges and universities ranging from 6 months to 3 years. 

These courses will include brand awareness and development, aspects of marketing, marketing techniques, the 4 ‘P’s of marketing (product, promotion, place and price) and how to implement a marketing strategy. 

Basic computer training is essential.

TRAINING:

• CLICK HERE to check for a training institution near you to see what they offer.
• Make sure you understand their entry requirements for each course.
• To avoid scams, make sure your institution is registered with the Department of Higher Education. 
• CLICK HERE to check accredited Private Higher Education Institutions. 

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Advertising Manager … or … Brand Manager

Is becoming a Tourism Marketing Manager the right career choice for me?

A Travel Consultant is a sales-based job. 

You may not have traveled to all corners of the world, but it is your ability to sound like you have that will ensure your success as a Travel Consultant. 

This is very important as most Travel Consultants are paid commission or paid basic salaries with incentives.

What does a Travel Consultant do?

• reading and responding to client emails
• liaising face-to-face with clients
• answering the phone
• researching flight details, tours, hotel information for clients
• booking holidays, booking corporate travel, etc for clients
• working out itineraries
• working within client’s budget
• dealing with payments
• helping clients organise their visas and travel documents
• keeping up to date with travel legislation, flight requirements etc

Are you … ?

• interested in the tourist industry?
• persuasive and patient?
• a good seller?
• a person with great communication skills?
• a person with excellent telephone skills/
• a multi-tasker?
• able to deal with lots of stress?
• able to meet deadlines?
• a quick thinker?
• capable of dealing with difficult or angry clients?

How do I become a Travel Consultant?

Flight Centre provides training on the job for all new employees.

The training includes, but is not limited to, Basic Galileo, fares training, soft skills like customer service and selling tactics. 

To become a Travel Consultant at Flight Centre no formal qualifications are needed.  However, other agencies do require that you have a qualification.

A Diploma in Travel and Tourism is the most common and can be obtained from a technical college or places like:

• DAMELIN
• BOSTON CITY CAMPUS
• ALLENBY
• UNISA

Most of the Diploma courses take a year to complete. 

Degree courses can take up 3 years to complete and are more complex.

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Tour Manager and Accommodation Services Manager

Is becoming a Travel Consultant the right career choice for me?

See below for more info.

OFO No:

What is a Tour Manager?

Tour Managers play an integral part in ensuring their clients’ tour experience meets their expectation. 

Tour Managers are responsible for accompanying tours from beginning to end.  They may even be part of the planning stage.

On a bus tour, a Tour Manager is more business orientated and therefore responsible for the whole tour co-ordination while the Tour Guide is usually responsible for the tourists themselves and making sure that they have everything they want at their fingertips. Some Tour Manager are also the Tour Guides.

Tour Managers and Tour Guides usually work as a team.

What does a Tour Manager do?

• visits various destinations for possible ‘new’ tours
• suggests interesting travel routes or places of interest
• accompanies groups travelling by coach or bus
• greets groups of tourists on their arrival
• checks tickets, travel documents, seat allocations and any special food requirements
• informs passengers of arrival and departure times at each destination
• ensures that the tour is running smoothly
• assists with any problems that may arise
• contacts and checks places ahead of arrival time
• writesreports and maintains records

Are you … ?

• interested in the travel industry?
• a peoples’ person?
• organised?
• polite and professional?
• friendly and patient?
• detail orientated?

How do I become a Tour Manager?

There are numerous institutions that offer a variety of tourism management related courses. 

Here are a few examples (there are many more):

• COLLEGE CAMPUS

Offers a Diploma in Travel and Tourism Management 

• VARSITY COLLEGE

Offers a Diploma in Travel and Tourism Management

• UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN: UCT

Offers a short course in Tourism Management (2013)

TRAINING:

• CLICK HERE to check for a training institution near you to see what they offer.
• Make sure you understand their entry requirements for each course.
• To avoid scams, make sure your institution is registered with the Department of Higher Education. 
• CLICK HERE to check accredited Private Higher Education Institutions. 

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Tour Guide: Cultural … or … Guest Liaison

Is becoming a Tour Manager the right career choice for me?

. . . . . . . . .

South Africa has a growing Adventure Tourism industry – which attracts visitors from all over the world.

Our climate and natural resources, such as rivers, mountains, and TWO oceans provides perfect opportunities for Adventure Tourism businesses to thrive!

Tourism Managers are highly self-motivated people who enjoy interacting with others and facing challenges.  They are committed to providing a service that involves managing the tour guides, planning of the adventure activities and ensuring the safety of the people taking part in the activities.

Business skills are very important – and many Adventure Toursim Booking Managers are qualified as tourist guides and also have experience and/or qualifications in:

• People management
• Business management

When planning a long adventure trip, the Adventure Toursim Booking Manager is responsible for all the logistics of the trip. This can include equipment, catering, accommmodation, permits and safety planning

A Reservation Agent is the person in charge of reservations in a hotel, resort, lodge, car rental company, spa, or any other business or organisation where reservations are required.

A Reservation Agent needs to be professional and organised at all times.  They must be on top of their game and know exactly what is going on in their department.  They need to clearly note where reservations are made, and where old ones have been cancelled.

They need to keep good records and be extremely methodical.  The smooth running of the business will depend on the Reservations Agent’s input.

What does a Reservation Agent do?

• answering the phone
• handling client queries
• checking availability
• making reservations/cancelling reservations
• giving quotations
• reading and answering emails from clients
• assisting clients where necessary
• updating client information

Are you … ?

• a team player?
• target driven?
• attentive?
• organised?
• vibrant and confident?
• able to work well under pressure?
• a person who loves dealing with people?
• able to deal with difficult or even rude clients?
• able to create a good impression of the company?
• computer literate?
• able to read and write well?

How do I become a Reservations Agent?

No formal qualification is required, but preference is given to candidates with a tourism diploma or similar. 

On-the-job training focuses on customer service, telephone techniques and solution-selling skills. 

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Travel Agent or Hotel/Resort Receptionist

Is becoming a Reservations Agent the right career choice for me?

See below for more info.