What the work is
A tour manager designs and sells tours: choosing the route, booking transport, hotels, guides and excursions, pricing it all, handling the paperwork and looking after clients before and during the trip. They work with tour operators and agencies, with groups and independent travellers, and deal with the unexpected — from a cancelled train to a tourist falling ill.
A typical day
A request from a group of 15 for a five-day Samarkand–Bukhara–Khiva tour: working out the programme and the price. Booking hotels and train tickets. Answering clients’ questions about visas and the season. Rebuilding the programme for a group whose flight was delayed. Preparing a travel note for tourists before departure.
How to start
- Get to know the country’s destinations, seasons and the logistics between cities.
- Learn booking systems, tour costing and working with contracts.
- Learn foreign languages — English and at least one more.
- Start as an assistant at a travel agency or tour operator.
Related professions
Tour guide, hotel administrator, sales manager, marketer.