Get paid
to travel the world. Sounds like one of those rip-off advertisements,
doesn’t it? But we aren’t selling anything and the statement is true. Yes,
tour managers are persons in the enviable position of getting paid to travel
literally all over the world. Although few tour managers get international
assignments their first year in the field, some do. In fact, a woman I
worked with recently had Switzerland as her first tour destination assignment.
And those with several years of experience can elect to only work international
tours.
Some American
tour managers live abroad and pick up one tour after another, saving their
U.S.-based companies the “positioning” fee costs they normally would pay
to get the tour manager to the point of origin for each tour.
And as if
getting paid to travel the world were not enough, it gets even better.
How would you like to have all of your expenses paid while going on luxury
cruises, staying in expensive hotels, and eating gourmet meals? Many tour
managers get these add-on benefits – and still get paid to lead the tours
they escort. A gentleman I worked with several years ago got assigned to
two back to back cruise tours of the Aegean Islands and Greece and after
a couple of days back home in Colorado he then went out for two back to
back cruise tours of Alaska. Some save all their lives to take a cruise.
He had four of them just a year after he entered the tour management field.
But it isn’t
all just luxurious fun. There are drawbacks. Tour managers have trouble
holding on to a marriage. The “at home” spouse often gets both lonely and
jealous. Tour managers are gone much of the year. In fact, many return
home only for a day or two a month during the high season of May through
September. But spouses have a right to be jealous. The at-home spouse can
rarely live the life style, have the luxury, or experience the excitement
of their on-the-road husband or wife. And tour managers of both sexes often
get proposed to by tour members. In fact, the number one reason for turnover
of tour managers for many tour companies is the tour manager marrying one
of a multitude of wealthy tour members. A number of tour managers have
become instant millionaires this way
A less discussed
drawback, but one that is important to our readers, is the inability of
most tour managers to be able to claim foreign earned income tax deductions.
Although a few tour managers are able to qualify for this deduction, most
do not. The vast majority of tour managers are working for tour companies
that are based in the United States with their pay coming from the United
States. They are unable to meet the “foreign-earned” aspect of the
qualification. Some of the largest tour companies in North America, however,
are European owned. Tour managers working for these companies are sometimes
able to get assigned to the European headquarters with pay coming from
the main office in England, Switzerland, or other Western European country.
Even though the tour manager will still be working with clients who came
from the United States, the tour manager stays in Europe and is paid by
the European office. In these cases tour managers usually do qualify for
the foreign earned income exclusion.
If all this
sounds too good to be true, wait until you find out how much money tour
managers are able to make. The average tour manager working just “the season”
can earn $25,000 to $30,000 in the first year. Tour managers with five
years or more of experience are often earning $45,000 to $60,000 a year.
And those with ten or more years of experience are sometimes bringing in
over $100,000 a year. It doesn’t all come from salary. In fact, about half
of all tour managers are independent contractors. Salary or independent
contractor compensation, however, only accounts for between $65 and $85
a day with most major tour companies. But other income sources can be much
more rewarding for tour managers. These include commissions for selling
add-on “optional” trips, tips (which can be substantial), and kickbacks
(the largest source of income for some tour managers).
What do tour
companies look for when hiring tour managers? Image is the number one factor.
Tour companies want a person who projects a very professional image.
Age is also
important. While tour managers are hired from the age of about 25 through
near death, the vast majority of tour managers are old and the best paid
are also old.
Wealthy seniors
constitute the bulk of the tour members for most major tour companies and
these seniors expect the tour manager to be of a similar age – or older.
This does not mean that people under sixty cannot get work. It simply means
that younger people have an age disadvantage compared to older people.
But if you are young and very physically fit, you may qualify to lead an
adventure tour. This is the most rapidly growing segment of the tour field
and companies running these tours seek tour managers who can take care
of tour members if and when a problem arises.
Other important
characteristics include having an outgoing personality, a sense of
humor, and organizational skills. The managers also need a sense of ethics
and the ability to make decisions. And it certainly helps if they have
a love of people, places and travel. In fact, if you hate traveling, you
really should not plan to enter this field.
How can one
get a job in the field? The vast majority of professional tour companies
require specialized schooling. The institutions that offer tour management
courses tend to be similar in many regards. Most courses are about half
a month long (14 or 15 days) and the curricula tends to be both in a classroom
and on a motorcoach. The costs can run from about $2,000 to over $4,000,
not including room and board. Placement efforts and placement results vary
considerably and parallel the cost of the training.
Some people
use their vacations to take the training and this can usually be done.
However, be aware that there may be a waiting list for the class time you
want. Therefore, advance planning is beneficial. After training you can
expect to receive a listing of the companies that the faculty feels best
match your skills, traits, and background. Most who are new to the field
start at the beginning of the high season, i.e. the last part of April
or the first part of May. Many only get “in season” assignments during
their first year in the business. If one works with a major company, however,
by the end of the first year, off-season work can be had and by the end
of the third or fourth year most tour managers are able to work as often
or as little as they like. Interestingly, however, because the income is
so good, most experienced tour managers work considerably less than the
traditional fifty weeks a year. They work hard for some of the year and
play the rest of the time. A company executive called me last year asking
where she could find a tour manager for a February departure. I gave her
a phone number in Bali. She found lots of them there. Both of us, being
based in the frigid states during the Winter, thought maybe we, too, should
go back to being tour managers.
