Searching Out Careers in Sports, Travel & Hospitality
- Career blog
- Jul 30
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 21
With so many career options available, how do you decide where to begin? Whether you're choosing what to study, planning your future career, or simply curious about different real-life jobs, our blog series categorises careers into types (or clusters) to help you easily discover various roles within a broad field.
Here, we explore Sports, Travel & Hospitality, covering:
Introduction to Sports, Travel & Hospitality.
Five fast facts
The key industries
Salaries and skillsets
A work experience case study
Our top tips for making it
Sports, Travel & Hospitality intro
The Sports, Travel, & Hospitality sector is a dynamic field that connects people through experiences, leisure, and service. It encompasses a wide range of professions focused on delivering enjoyment, wellbeing, and memorable moments, whether through athletic events, global travel, or exceptional customer service. From managing sports teams and organising large-scale events to planning dream travel experiences and running hotels or restaurants, this sector thrives on energy, coordination, and people skills.
This sector plays a vital role in the UK economy and offers diverse career paths for individuals passionate about culture and human connection. The sector continues to innovate, blending technology, sustainability, and hospitality to meet the demands of a modern, experience-driven world.
Five fast facts about this career type
Major Employers: The tourism industry is expected to support 3.8 million jobs in 2025, accounting for 11.9% of all jobs and the leisure industry in the UK employs approximately 9% of the workforce, representing 2.6 million jobs.
Rapid Growth: Tourism has been the fastest-growing sector for UK employment since 2010.
Sustainability Focus: Eco-tourism and sustainable hospitality are on the rise, with businesses increasingly focused on reducing environmental impact and promoting responsible travel.
Global Reach: The travel and tourism sector is deeply international, with roles that can take you around the world, from managing international resorts to working with global sports teams and events.
People-Centric: With a strong focus on customer satisfaction, emotional intelligence, teamwork, and interpersonal skills are often highly valued.
Industries you can expect to find
Let’s break this career type down a little further to discover different jobs:
Hospitality, Catering & Events: Delivering exceptional guest experiences from food services, accommodation to event planning.
Sports & Leisure: Promoting health, fitness and entertainment through coaching, facility management and recreational services.
Travel & Tourism: Creating and managing memorable journeys and experiences through tour operations, destination planning and travel services.
You can learn more by watching videos from professionals here:
How much could I get paid?
Within this cluster, you will find a range of career opportunities from entry level, right up to senior management.
Here are some examples to show the variety and levels of roles within Sports, Travel & Hospitality:
Swimming Teacher: Average salary of £19,000 to £34,000 per year.
Personal Trainer: Average salary of £30,000 to £40,000 per year.
Hotel Manager: Average salary of £30,000 to £60,000 per year.
Tourism Officer: Average salary of £18,000 to £40,000 per year
Chef: Average salary of £22,000 to £44,000 per year.
Theme Park Manager: Average salary of £17,000 to £50,000 per year
Depending on age and experience, these figures may change, but should give you some indication of average salaries over the years.
Would a career in Sports, Travel & Hospitality be a good fit for me?
To thrive in the Sports, Travel & Hospitality sector, you'll need a mix of practical, interpersonal, and organisational skills. The following skills will help you succeed:
Communication and People Skills:
Communication and Customer Service: From welcoming hotel guests to guiding a tour, or coaching a team, being able to communicate clearly, professionally and warmly is vital to creating positive experiences.
Empathy and Patience: Understanding the needs of customers or clients, especially when dealing with complaints, sensitive issues or high-pressure situations, helps build trust and satisfaction.
Practical and Technical Skills
Event and Venue Management: Knowing how to plan, organise, and execute events or manage facilities efficiently is key in roles across Sports, Travel and Hospitality.
Health, Safety, and Hygiene: Many roles in this cluster require a strong understanding of industry regulations and protocols ensures safe and professional environments, especially in food service, sports and fitness, and travel operations.
Teamwork and Collaboration
Working with Others: Whether part of a restaurant crew, a travel team, or a sports staff, collaboration is essential for smooth operations and enjoyable experiences for your clients, guests or customers.
Organisation and Time Management
Multitasking: Many roles in this sector often involve handling multiple responsibilities under time constraints such as coordinating bookings, serving customers, or preparing venues.
Attention to Detail: From ensuring accurate travel arrangements to maintaining presentation standards, precision is crucial to ensure positive experiences for clients, guests and customers.
Adaptability and Resilience
Handling Pressure: The sector often involves long hours, peak seasons, and unexpected challenges. Some roles may involve shift work, travel and management of last-minute changes. Staying calm, focused and positive is essential.
You can learn more about the sector here:
Hospitality: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/browse-sector/hospitality-and-events-management and https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers/job-sector/catering-and-hospitality
Explore careers based on subjects you enjoy: https://careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors/subjects and https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/groups/cpw27rkvq6pt
Discover professional qualifications related to some popular careers: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/postgraduate-study/professional-qualifications
Sports, Travel & Hospitality work experience case study
High-flying work experience with Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic worked in close partnership with Futures For All to deliver a year-long Passport to Change programme. It showcased careers in the world of aviation to 300 Year 8 students from partner schools in Crawley and Swansea, as well as 100 young people from Atlanta, Georgia.
“Over a 12-month period, the young people took part in 25,000 hours of hands-on learning – which included inspiring talks, interactive activities, and mentoring, both remotely and in-person. The project culminated with young people applying what they had learnt to present ideas for their own airlines to a panel of judges.”
Laura Macshane, Manager, DEI & Community, Virgin Atlantic
Five top tips on turning your passion into a career
Think broadly. Focus on career types rather than specific jobs; there might be a role within a sector that you weren’t aware of and could find appealing.
Consider which topics interest you – what do you enjoy discussing with your friends?
Make a list of subjects you like and those you excel at, even if you don’t currently enjoy them.
Try out different careers by gaining work experience in jobs you are passionate about and those you aren’t; the results may surprise you. Either way, you’ll add valuable experience to your CV.
Build a Strong Portfolio or CV – Whether you're into art, coding, writing, or any other field, having a portfolio or a strong resume to showcase your work is key. A great portfolio or resume will set you apart from others and help you land your first job or internship.
Network and Connect with People – Building relationships is huge in any field. Don’t just wait for opportunities to find you; actively seek them out! Attend school or community events, participate in work experience, and follow people in the industry you’re interested in.
Keep Learning and Stay Curious – The world is always changing, and new things are happening all the time. So, make sure you’re always learning and improving your skills. Whether it’s through online libraries, books and articles, watching tutorials or mentoring with professionals, you keep your knowledge and skills sharp. Being ahead of the curve will make you stand out.
What to do next
Where could your favourite subject take you? Still not sure what you want to do? Our top tip is to try as much work experience as you can.
Check out our Work Experience Finder to see the latest opportunities.
Interested in mentoring? https://brightside.org.uk/
Need access to a library of resources about different sectors? https://www.futuresforall.org/talks-library
Find out more about apprenticeships: https://www.gov.uk/become-apprentice
University pathways: https://www.ucas.com/discover
This blog is a guide, and careers are constantly changing. Please check the National Careers Service website for the latest information and all the qualifications needed, and the GOV.UK website for more on T-levels. For careers advice in all parts of the UK, visit: National Careers Service (England), nidirect (Northern Ireland), My World of Work (Scotland) and Careers Wales (Wales).
