Attractions and Activity Work Roles

New Zealand is known world-wide for its attractions and activities. Many people travel to our country just to see attractions or to take part in activities e.g. jet boating, Rotorua mud pools and bungy jumping.

Lucy is a graduate who completed her internship working on the ski slopes of Canada!

Velocity Valley Organisational Structure

At the entry level you may decide to move across before you move up e.g. start in reservations and move to sales and marketing. 

It’s often a great idea to get to know all aspects of the job and the attraction.

Front line staff are the first people to deal with customers, they are on the front line and deal face-to-face with customers. This term could cover a variety of roles but in the attraction and activities sector it typically could mean ticketing staff, tour guides, attraction or ride operators plus retail staff in any souvenir shops.  The public’s impression of the company might begin and end with their actions.  These types of roles typically offer an average starting salary of between $32-40,000 per annum.

 Their tasks and duties may include:

• Sell their product to the public (e.g. A J Hackett Bungy Jumping)
• Handle the money and balance the cash
• Answer any questions regarding their product e.g. hours, children’s prices etc.
• Issue tickets
• Work closely as a team with the other staff

The main duty of maintenance staff is to make sure all equipment is maintained to a safe standard, or that the buildings are safe and customer ready.  Obviously this is a vital role, especially when thinking about adrenalin attractions like AJ Hackett Bungy or Waitomo Caves Black Water Rafting.  All operating equipment must be safe at all times and constantly checked.   Their other task is to ensure the attraction remains clean and attractive.  This could be a different kind of role if you consider an attraction like Hobbiton in the Waikato.  No adrenalin rides here but the entire tourism operation revolves around the movie set and that needs to be maintained to a very high standard to ensure its authenticity.

Working in this area of the tourism industry would typically bring an average starting salary of between $32- 40,000 per annum.

Tour guides or activity guides are an important part of the tourism experience. An enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide will help make the visit a great tourism experience. 

While we have looked at tour managers for a coach company who cater for the whole extended experience of an escorted tour, activity guides cater for the specific needs of a local experience. Companies require tour guides to lead walking/tramping trips, white water rafting, local tours, bridge walks, museums tours etc.

Tour guides are known by a variety of titles e.g. host, local guide, activity guide, activity leader and driver.

Daniel studied at New Zealand School of Tourism and is now working at Waitomo Caves as an tour guide. He loves his job!

Let’s look at some of the TASKS AND DUTIES required for an activity/ tour guide:

• Operating specialist equipment and understanding how it works
• Ensuring that the visitor has a safe experience
• Make sure the equipment undergoes safety checks regularly & they adhere to health & safety rules
• That they respond to any special needs, e.g. those who speak a different language
• Being enthusiastic and interesting to every group
• Understand and have knowledge of the activity or tour area
• Promote themselves, their company, and their region/country

Look at the job advert below and take a mental note of the skills, attributes, knowledge and personal presentations aspects of this role.

 

The following job vacancy was sourced from Seek NZ

Tour Guide- Permanent and Fixed Term

Hobbiton is looking for passionate individuals to join our guiding team to help our visitors live out their Tolkien dreams and wander the path ways of the enchanting willage of Hobbiton. We're looking for both fixed Term and Permanent guides to join our team. Think you have that slice of special pie that we've been searching for?

• Do you have a great attitude? Bring it!
• Do you possess interpersonal skills and empathy for all walks of life? Love it!
• Do you have a can do, hardworking approach to work Tick, tick, tick!
• In a job that demands fluidity, can you keep it fun and professional? We want you!

The role

In your role as a tour guide you will be exposed to a range of front-line tasks such as:

• Delivering an informative and lighthearted commentary down to the movie set on the bus and throughout the duration of the movie set.
• Assisting with visitors needs such as taking enough photos to fulfil an instagram photo shoot and answering their questions.
• Keeping your group entertained and on time. No Hobbit gets left behind so ensure you get to know all your group members!
• With visitors from across the globe coming to visit, communication is essential! We know that a smile speaks when words cannot so demonstrating both verbal and non-verbal communication is key to providing a world class experience.
• Teamwork makes the dream work so lending a helping hand to other departments may be required so bring to work your proactive attitude to problem solving.

Hobbiton blends together a mix of Kiwi hospitality, a dash of passion and a bucket load of teamwork. We remain solutions focused to create a supportive and fun working environment for all staff offering on the job training and upskilling to keep it fresh and exciting.

Think you've got what it takes to help our company reach our vision of becoming the best tourism experience in New Zealand by 2024? Apply Now!

The average starting salary for this role is $32-40,000 per annum.

Attractions sometimes need guides as well. These people are often called hosts.  They are responsible for pointing guests in the right direction to various parts of the attractions or areas of the museum for instance.  They may also have to lead a tour around the attraction giving commentary or even host functions there.

Attraction and activity companies usually employ staff to promote their specific business and its benefits to potential clients. Whilst this is similar to the other sales roles we have talked about, often attraction and activity companies are smaller and therefore may only have one person rather than a whole sales department.

Their tasks and duties would include:

• Advertising the company, reaching its target market
• Producing promotional material
• Liaising with travel agencies, wholesalers and tour operators
• Organising trade shows

The operations manager oversees all the positions that we have looked at, they are the ‘conductor’ of the ‘orchestra’ and must make sure that everyone fulfils their role within the business.  It’s hugely important to ensure the successful operation of the attraction or activity – there cannot be any weak links. There will be times, however, when all does not go according to plan due and circumstances are not ideal, therefore this is not an entry level position as it is obvious that this would need more understanding and experience of the business operation.

What tasks and duties do they perform?

• Day to day running of operations
• Problem solving
• Motivating staff
• Ensuring company makes money
• In charge of all staff

Job vacancy sourced from Seek NZ

The average starting salary for this role is typically between $80-100,000 per annum.