Seven million job opportunities in travel and tourism industry in next ten years
India is the favored destination for majority of the travelers to South Asia with immense job prospects in the sector. India expects a tourist inflow of around 10 million in 2010 when it will host the Commonwealth Games. Job opportunities in the travel and tourism sector would far outnumber those in the software industry over the next few years. With better tourism infrastructure and soaring income levels in India, the Indian travel and tourism sector in the country is expected to employ about seven million more people over the next 10 years.
The Career Options:
Careers and job opportunities in Travel Agencies:
These institutions facilitate travel and other services for all individuals traveling for vacations or business purposes. Providing information about the destination, hotel ratings, the cheapest and the fastest mode of transport, visas, foreign exchange etc. is the job of a travel agent. Travel agencies are divided into roughly four departments- the Accounts, Tours, Travel and Cargo. A course in travel and tourism will help you to get a suitable job.

Careers and job opportunities in Tourism Department:
This department consists of reservation and counter staff, sales and marketing staff, tour planners, tour guides, information assistants and officers in the Directorate and Department of tourism. These officers for the Directorate and Department of tourism are chosen from the civil services and their job is to promote and plan tourism. Information assistants provide knowledge concerning destinations and plan itineraries. They are selected through a competitive exam which is held by the Staff Selection Commission. Guides too are divided into three categories namely regional, state and local. In order to be a guide, you must have knowledge about history, art, architecture and language.
Careers and job opportunities in Tourist Police:
Tourism Ministry has advised all state governments to deploy Tourist Police in the states. The state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have deployed Tourist Police in one form or other.
Careers and job opportunities in  Youth training:
Government has launched the "Earn while you learn" scheme which is a short term training programmed of 21 days to encourage youth to work as student volunteers in tourism industry
Careers and job opportunities in    Hotels:
Hotels provide travelers with food and accommodation services. This service industry requires skilled and professional individuals and its manpower requirements are vast. Jobs related to front office, operations, house keeping, food and beverages, accounting, management and public relations are available. A course in hotel management would help you to get a suitable job.

Careers and job opportunities in   Transport:
Transport refers to means of traveling from one place to another. Air, railways, road and sea are the basic categories that transport is divided into.
Careers and job opportunities in  Road transport:
Coaches and tourist cars provide scope for self employment. Drivers with good conversation skills and knowledge of different languages are ideal for this job.

Careers and job opportunities in  Airlines:
This sector of the travel and tourism industry is in great demand. The ground staff and the airlines need smart and presentable professionals with a degree in hotel management or travel and tourism. Traffic assistants, reservation and counter staff, air hostess & flight pursuers, sales and marketing staff and people to provide customer services are all required. Airlines like Indian Airlines, Emirates, British Airways and Air India pay attractive salaries and provide a number of added benefits too.
Careers and job opportunities in   Tour operators:
These individuals organize tours and manage travel and stay of their clients. They conduct tours to known tourist attractions and some of them help the tourists indulge in adventure sports like river rafting and rock climbing. To do this job, you have to have a pleasant personality, detailed knowledge concerning travel and language skills.
Careers and job opportunities in   Time share companies:
These companies own/manage holiday resorts with time shares owned by different members of these companies. It leads to another set of companies which provide services relating to sale/transfer/exchange of these time shares with an international network of resorts. You have the option of working with resort owning companies or time share exchange companies like RCI.

Careers and job opportunities in   Holiday consultants:
This is a relatively new career option in the travel and tourism industry. These professionals provide all the information to their clients. They sell the holiday, plan the literary, make the travel plan, book the tickets and provide all the other details which are required.
Careers and job opportunities in   Banks:
Banks require people to assist tourists and travelers on foreign exchange. Usually MBA professionals are preferred for this job. Banks help in hotel and ticket bookings also.
Source:timesjobs,newspapers