Travel and Tourism Apprenticeships

What are travel and tourism apprenticeships?

Apprenticeships are schemes where you’ll earn a professional qualification (similar to GCSEs, A-Levels and more) while gaining on-the-job experience at a real employer in the travel and tourism industry.

You'll spend around 80% of your time doing real work. This could include helping customers book holidays, checking guests into hotels, coordinating events, and more, depending on your role. The other 20% is training and studying, usually one day a week or in blocks at a college.

Most travel and tourism opportunities are split into Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeships. Which one you go for depends on your grades. Let’s break it down.

Level 2 (intermediate)

These are equivalent to GCSEs. If you’re leaving school and don’t have all the qualifications you need, you’ll start here. These run for between 12 and 18 months, and you’ll get to grips with the basics of customer service, travel products and how the industry works.

Level 3 (advanced)

These are similar to A-Levels (or similar) and great if you got five or more GCSEs. You'll take on much more responsibility, learning about sales, operations and team leadership. Many Level 3 apprentices work towards roles such as senior travel consultant, team leader or assistant manager. Level 3 apprenticeships usually last between 12 months and two years.

Types of apprenticeships you can do

The travel and tourism industry is huge, so there's something for everyone, and there are loads of opportunities to branch out once you’re finished. Here are the three main types of apprenticeships you can do.

• Travel consultant. You’ll be based in a travel agency (whether at a high street branch or in a call centre) helping customers plan their holidays. You’ll learn how to use booking systems, understand destinations and travel products, handle sales and deal with customer complaints. 

• Aviation customer service operative. You’ll be on the ground at airports helping passengers through check-in, boarding gates, arrivals or on customer service desks. It’s super fast-paced.

• Cabin crew. You’ll work on flights, making sure customers are safe and comfortable. Some of your tasks will include serving food and drinks, handling emergencies and running safety checks before, during and after every flight.

Ever wanted to know what it’s like to work for British Airways? This is what one customer service apprentice got up to:

My role entails check-in and various hosting positions (landside) and boarding flights, customer service desks (airside). My role is to ensure that passengers have the smoothest time whilst travelling, and to ensure that any problems are solved efficiently and quickly. Whilst in the terminal, the skills that I have improved the most include: my confidence, my timekeeping skills and how I conduct myself in a professional manner Customer Service Apprentice, British Airways

Skills you’ll need

• Customer service. This is one of the most important skills you’ll need. Being able to deal with queries, manage customer expectations, and handle complaints will be a huge part of your role.

• Flexibility. Anything can happen, so you’ll need to be able to adapt and respond to any situation.

• Communication. You’ll spend a lot of time customer-facing and working in teams, so being able to communicate in writing and verbally is super important.

• Language skills. You might not have these, but speaking a second or even third language can be a huge plus, especially if you’re working at an airport.

Technical skills, such as using booking systems, and sales skills, you’ll pick up during your apprenticeship.

Which companies can you work for?

The variety is massive. You could work anywhere from a high street travel agency to an airline, a hotel to a tour operator, a theme park to a cruise line. Here are some employers who offer travel and tourism apprenticeships:

Here’s what one apprentice said about their time at TUI UK & Ireland as a travel advisor.

I really enjoy my programme as there is something new I get to try every day. I also enjoy how all of the retail store/stores like to help each other and give each other advice, as we all have different knowledge, whether it's about a destination or helping to book a holiday. Travel Advisor, TUI UK & Ireland

How much do you get paid?

How much you earn depends on the company, your level and where you’re based. Apprentices earn the National Minimum Wage, but loads of employers pay well above that. If you’re on a Level 2 apprenticeship, you could earn around £19,500 per year and £20,800 per year on a Level 3. 

On top of that, you’ll also get a bunch of employee benefits. As well as your regular paid holiday (which is at least 20 days), you could get perks like health insurance, discounted flights and more. These will usually be found in the job description.

What can you do after an apprenticeship?

There’s so much you can do once you’ve finished your apprenticeship. Many apprentices stay with their employer or use their experience to move on to other opportunities.

Travel consultants can become senior consultants, team leaders and branch managers. Cabin crew can move on to become senior crew, lead crew members or move into recruitment and training. If you’re working in the airport, you could become a supervisor or move into a manager role.

If you’re interested in the tech or engineering side of the travel industry, you could move on to higher apprenticeship levels. There are also opportunities in other parts of travel and tourism, such as marketing, tourism management, air traffic control and more.

Apprenticeships are all about getting experience and transferable skills, and you’ll have loads of that. Even if you decide travel and tourism isn’t your bag.

How to apply

Most employers start looking for candidates in early spring for September starts, but many also look for apprentices throughout the year. Travel and tourism apprenticeships are super popular and competitive (especially with big companies like TUI), so it’s worth getting your applications in early.

You’ll start with an online application where you’ll include your CV and cover letter. If your application impresses, you’ll be invited to an assessment centre where you’ll take part in various tasks.

If you’re applying to become cabin crew, you’ll have a full day where you’ll complete group tasks, english tests, role-play exercises and a final interview. They can be intense, but you’ll have plenty of time to prepare yourself, and employers will always let you know what to expect (for example, Virgin Atlantic have a whole page dedicated to what happens during their assessment days).

Need a little application inspo? Get our free application toolkit; it has everything you need to get started.