If you've ever daydreamed your way through a spreadsheet and landed somewhere with a boarding pass, you're not alone. A career in travel is one of the most romanticised paths out there — and one of the most misunderstood.
The industry has changed shape faster than most. It's more digital, more experience-led and more conscious than the postcard version many of us grew up with. The good news: that shift has quietly opened doors for people who don't fit the old mould. Here's how I'd approach breaking in today.
The industry is digital-first now
Travel is no longer just airlines, hotels and a high-street agent with brochures. It's booking platforms, content, community, data and design. Some of the most interesting roles sit in teams building the apps people plan trips on, the creators shaping where they go, and the companies rethinking how travel can be kinder to the places it touches.
That matters for your job hunt, because it means "a job in travel" no longer requires a tourism degree and a uniform. It might look like marketing, writing, customer experience, operations or product — pointed at a destination instead of a widget.
Skills that travel well
You almost certainly have more relevant experience than you think. The skills the modern industry actually rewards are wonderfully transferable:
- Communication and languages. Clear, warm communication — and any second language — is currency everywhere in travel.
- Digital literacy. Comfort with tools, basic analytics and social platforms puts you ahead of a surprising number of applicants.
- Customer experience. Any job where you've calmed a stressed human and solved their problem counts. Hospitality, retail, support — it all transfers.
- Adaptability. Plans change, flights don't, weather happens. Staying steady when things wobble is a genuine, hireable skill.
- Content creation. If you can tell a story with a photo and a caption, you can help a destination or brand be found and loved.
You don't need to have worked in travel to belong in travel. You need to prove you can move people — literally or emotionally.
How to actually get in
Wanting it isn't a strategy. This is roughly the path I'd map for someone starting from the outside:
- Start adjacent. Hospitality, events, customer support or a content side-project all put "travel-relevant" on your CV while you aim for the role you want.
- Build a small, visible portfolio. A simple blog, an itinerary you designed, a tidy set of destination posts. Proof beats promises.
- Network like a human. Follow people doing the job you want, comment thoughtfully, ask one genuine question. Most doors open sideways, through a person, not a portal.
- Aim at the growth edges. Sustainable travel, experience-led tourism, remote-friendly booking tech — the fast-growing niches hire faster and care less about a traditional CV.
The trip is worth the paperwork
Breaking into travel takes patience and a slightly thick skin, same as any industry people dream about. But it's more open than it looks from the outside, and it rewards curiosity more than pedigree.
Start where you are, point your existing skills at a destination, and be the person who makes someone else's journey smoother. That's the whole job, really — and it's a good one.
Written from somewhere between Kuala Lumpur and Dublin. More of the same over on the blog.
