Heritage Tourism is a huge contributor to the Scottish economy, with millions of people from all over the world visiting our heritage attractions every year. Working in tourism allows you to welcome the world to Scotland and share the country’s incredible history and culture with a wide and varied audience.
Visitor-facing roles such as tour guiding, retail, and admissions are key to the day-to-day operation of heritage sites. They can be busy at times, but also highly rewarding. Roles like this involve talking with visitors, working in shops, giving site tours, and assisting with visitor safety and security. These jobs often don’t require extensive prior experience or qualifications, so can also be a great entry point to work in a heritage environment. At a more senior level, you can be responsible for a specific site, or even larger regions, and work can involve motivating site teams and developing over-arching tourism strategies.
There’s also plenty of ‘behind the scenes’ job in tourism - fancy working on social media to share heritage attractions globally, or travelling abroad to capture new global audiences? Maybe you want to encourage membership to attractions, or organise both public and private events at these venues? All of this and more is possible with a career in Heritage Tourism.
Customer service and communication skills are important for most roles within this area. Being passionate about where you work is also a bonus!
Example of jobs include:
- Front of House Assistant
- Site Steward
- Tour Guide
- Visitor Operations Manager
- Communications Officer
- Admissions Coordinator
- Event Manager
- Membership Assistant
- Travel Trade Advisor
- Tourism Development Manager
What's next?
You can apply directly for many visitor-facing on-site roles. Seasonal jobs are a great way to get started and get the experience needed for longer-term positions. Qualifications in hospitality, tourism or event management can be useful for more senior roles.
Looking for vacancies? Check out the job postings on these websites:
- Scottish Tourism Alliance - Scottish Tourism Jobs
- Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA) - Scottish Visitor Attraction Jobs
- Arival - International Tourism Job Listings
- Travel Weekly - European Tourism Jobs
- Museums and Galleries Scotland - jobs and opportunities
- Historic Environment Scotland jobs - current vacancies
- National Trust for Scotland - find a job
Career Spotlight
Why not hear from those in the sector about some of the many roles available in tourism?
Managing Director at Mercat Tours
Tour guiding is a fun job because you get to share the passion for your city or town by telling real stories form the past. You also get plenty variety in your day and to be outside in the fresh air and meet people from all over the world.
One thing to know, is that pretty much anything that you enjoy can be turned into a job in tourism. It is open, it is welcoming, it is flexible, and wherever you go, as long as you've got the right attitude, you will get help to grow, develop, and be the very best you can be.
For example, if you are an outgoing person and love meeting people, then tourism is for you. You’ll be working with others in your team and welcoming people from across the world who are visiting your destination.
Not only that, if you are keen to travel, you can take your job in tourism and transfer it to anywhere in the world so you can work and travel at the same time.
You’ll also find real fulfilment in a job in tourism if you are a creative person. Marketing or social media your thing? Then you could get involved in web design, social media management, or communications. In this job you’ll use your creative skills to connect with people and to make sure they have a fantastic memory of your destination.
Whatever your passion and interests are, there’s a job for you in tourism!