H.E.A.T up your Future with Travel and Tourism

"When I was studying at college, I actually started out on the Professional Cookery course.  That’s when I realised that one of the things I was naturally good at was speaking to people.  That, plus the fact that I have always had a genuine enthusiasm and interest for tourism, so I made the decision to change course and study Travel and Tourism.

From college, I went on to work for VisitScotland and was based in the information centres both in Ayr and Glasgow.  Eventually I worked in Glasgow full time, and the commute didn’t really suit me with family commitments, so when the offer of working closer to home came up, I jumped at the chance.

I now work as a Caravan Sales Advisor at Turnberry Holiday Park.

On a typical day in my job I arrive in the morning and one of the first things I do is update the social media pages for the holiday park.  I upload photos and videos of various caravans and holidays, along with information about the park and local attractions.

I check over my appointments for the day for potential customers to view the caravans and have a look at the different features and benefits of ownership on the park.

I would say that the main skill you need to work in Tourism is customer service, people skills are so important!  I get to speak to a lot of different people within the industry and since I come from the local area, my knowledge really helps with my job.

There's so many different paths to go down in tourism.  One of the best bits of advice for anyone thinking of going into the industry, is to get as much work experience as you can.  I did a lot of volunteering with the Ayrshire and Arran tourism team.  I went to Prestwick Airport, for example, helping to give out advice to visitors about the local area.

With VisitScotland, I got to travel around the country which was great. I focused a lot of my studies on Scottish Tourism while I was at college and the best thing is that I have fallen in love with Scotland all over again!  I really enjoy getting to visit lots of different places, and learning more about the area and it's history too.

My ambitions have changed slightly from covering a bit of everything in tourism with VisitScotland to focusing on the leisure industry in my current job.  This is definitely where I want to be and to progress from here.

School wasn’t really for me.  It was only when I went to college and received support from lecturers, that I decided to progress on to university.  I have definitely found my calling in Travel and Tourism – it's finding what you’re good at in order to progress and just going for it!"

Watch Ashley's video

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