Sample Tourism and Travel Personal Statement
The idea of pursuing a career within the tourist sector has really appealed to me and fired my imagination ever since I completed a BTEC in Travel and Tourism. I found the course very rewarding because it made it opened my mind to the fact that working in tourism offers an unparalleled chance to combine together two subjects that have always been of great interest to me: business and travel. The idea of running a business speaks to my very hands-on approach to life and my love of problem solving, and through completing the BTEC I discovered that the tourist sector offers a wealth of managerial opportunities to people with the right skills, yet unlike many other industries the product on offer–travel and vacations–is one that cannot fail to be exciting. I am now relishing the possibility of being able to return to being involved in this area academically through studying it at university in preparation for a career in the sector.
I have always believed in the value of preparation when attempting to achieve goals. For this reason I decided to take a gap year, during which time I have been completing further study and gaining professional work experience to prepare me for the demands of a degree in tourism. I am enjoying having the chance to improve my mathematics skills through completing the Key Skills Level 2 in mathematics. I have also been avidly studying travel publications aimed at those working in the industry and tourists themselves. Among my favourite publications are Destinations Travel Magazine, which has helped me to focus my mind on the marketing aspects of tourism and concepts such as different target markets, and National Geographic Traveller, whose thoughtful articles have prompted me to think about some of the conceptual aspects of the industry, such as the differences between inquisitive and acquisitive travel.
However, gaining work experience in the travel industry has been the most rewarding part of my gap year so far. Since September I have been working for a specialist travel agent that offers tailor-made holiday experiences. I am responsible for the company’s destination research and web content, with these two areas requiring me to carried out detailed research on different worldwide destinations and turn that research into engaging web content designed to attract and inspire potential holidaymakers who are looking for a more original and authentic holiday experience. The work has made me more interested in the marketing aspects of the tourism sector and has focused my mind on issues such as what motivates different people to travel and how different holiday experiences can be presented.
As part of my work I attended the World Travel Market event, an experience that helped me to gain insight into the economic importance that different countries attach to their tourist sectors and the techniques they attempt to use to differentiate their tourist experience from the competition. During the event I also attended several different business meetings on behalf of my company, through which I came to be aware of the many different types of organisations that collectively make up the industry. I also enjoyed these meetings because it gave me a chance to put into practice the negotiating and communicating skills I gained at school through serving as a member of the sixth-form council. Overall the work experience I have completed so far has really made me appreciate the breadth of subjects that tourism encompasses, from economics and the environment to management and marketing, and this has in turn given me cause to look forward to the multi-disciplinary content of a tourism degree.
As a passionate traveller with an endless enthusiasm for discovering new places, the tourism sector is undoubtedly the area in which I want to build a career, with the areas of destination management or marketing particularly appealing to me. I see a degree in tourism as the ideal first step in making this goal become a reality.
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