Tourism: There are almost 40,000 people currently employed in tourist-related jobs. According to CERT's Mary Ena Walsh, employment in the area has grown by just over one-third since 1996. Most of the employment is in the south-west and Dublin regions, she says. There are up to 2,700 tourist-related businesses, including heritage and tourist information centres, operating in the State.
Travel: There are more than 400 travel agents operating in the State and a number of airlines, tour operators and ferry and coach companies. Starting salaries are relatively low - around £8,000 - but many jobs offer sales commission and some employers even throw in free uniforms. If you're good, you could be earning up to £16,000 after five years in the business. Contacts: CERT (01) 855655. Irish Travel Agents Association (01) 679 4089.
Regina Gregan travels to town each day via the M50 from her home near Ratoath, Co Meath. But some days she travels much further afield. She works in the travel business, you see. There are plenty of opportunities to see the world, she says. She has been all over Europe, the United States and Australia. "I would never have done those trips but for the fact that I am working in the travel industry," she says.
She is manager with responsibility for the corporate sector at The Travel Broker in Dublin's Clontarf suburb. She arrives at her office at about 8.15 a.m. She's smartly dressed in a light blue jacket and trousers. The day proper begins at 9 o'clock. She likes having a uniform, too. "It's great," she says, "it looks good as well for everyone coming in.
"Each day is totally different," she says about her work as a senior tour counsellor. She loves it all, whether it's dealing with people over the phone or at the counter. There is a never-ending stream of jobs, checking flight times, mapping routes, organising limos, taking queries and arranging hotel accommodation. "It's a fun business, too," she says.
"There's a great social aspect to it. Four weeks into my first job in the travel industry and I was going to Paris on an `educational'." Opportunities like this to travel with a group and become acquainted with the destinations and the hotels is an aspect that should appeal to any young person, she says.
Her day is busy - not a minute is wasted. "We have top executives flying out, going to all sorts of destinations," she says. "If they want to get out to Portland, Oregon, for example, they want the best routes, the best fares. The job is about counselling them, advising them and providing them with peace of mind. They know when they pick you that their tickets, hotels, cars, flights - that the whole package is organised.
"Each day is totally different," she says. "It can be booking anything from a Concorde ticket, first class, including a limo transfer, to making sure that the car will be there at 9.30 a.m. to take him to the airport. You must organise advanced check-in times, hotel reservations . . ." she says, breathlessly. Her job can also include booking a train ticket on the Dublin-Cork route. "It's so varied, it's unbelievable," she says. But it's also stressful.
She has always liked meeting people, she says, adding that "communication skills are vitally important". In her job, she says: "All day everyday we are constantly communicating with the outside, with clients, suppliers, hotels."
At school she liked geography and English but she was also involved in all types of committees. She used to help organise and co-ordinate various activities, such as the debs' ball and sports days. Those organisational skills are now honed and razor sharp.
Her career in the travel business didn't start immediately after school, but then she "sort of fell into it". After her Leaving Certificate exam she did a marketing course at Colaiste Eanna in Dublin's Cabra West. "That was a starting block." After two years in the catering business, her career as a tour counsellor started with a job in Club Travel on Lower Abbey Street, where she was taken on as a trainee in 1995.
Regina soon became a junior travel counsellor. She worked here for two years. "I did learn a lot. At the end of the six-month training you were placed in the section which suited you most. I was placed in the corporate section." She then moved to work in a big company because "I wanted to spread my wings". She worked at the Xerox plant in the Ballycoolin Industrial Estate during this time.
"That's where their European hub is. They have 2,000 people working there, and we were accountable for all of their travel," says Gregan. "It was an experience. It's like running your own travel agency on site." Two years later she started work at The Travel Broker.
"You have to be meticulous and you have to be conscientious. It's a hard-working business . . . There's a lot of trust from the clients. We are responsible for all of their company's travel." Holidays are only around the corner. So where is she going next? "I've travelled so many places. I'm not sure yet but it will be somewhere nice," she says.
