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It was love at first flight for Emily Slater-Jones, former Heart of Worcestershire College (HoW College) student, when she started her travel and tourism journey. Fly forward three years and she is now immersed in the travel industry, but how did she get here?

Emily’s journey started in 2020 when she chose to enrol on the Level 2 Travel and Tourism course at the College’s All Saints’ building in Worcester. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after school but knew she had a passion for traveling and felt it was only fitting that she put that passion into practice and studied travel and tourism.

During her time at HoW College, she gained valuable knowledge of the travel and tourism industry and completed work experience at Spires Travel, the College’s travel agency, which made her realise she wanted to work in an office-based job as opposed to cabin crew.

During Emily’s course, and through her work experience, she gained valuable transferable skills such as communication, customer service, IT and teamwork – all of which she uses in her current role.

So, where is Emily now?

After finishing college in 2023, Emily took a six-month break and during this time was looking for jobs alongside travelling. She now works as a Reservations Agent for a corporate travel company called ‘Hotel and Travel Solutions’ based in Droitwich. Emily is now thriving in this role and has been ‘Top Booker’ twice, despite still being in her first month.

In this role Emily has to use computers and phones a lot and so the knowledge she gained about typing out emails and using systems like Microsoft Teams in college has had great value. As well as this, her work experience at Spires Travel has helped with her customer service skills and allowed her to gain a more detailed knowledge of travel agencies.

Speaking about her college journey, Emily said:

“In my first year of college, I was doing really well, completing all my work on time, handing it in on deadlines alongside completing my English and maths GCSEs. In my second year, I started to fall back due to mental health. I had a hard time in my second and final year, but I didn’t give up. Thanks to teachers such as Alison Tracey, Lynn Robinson and Lucy Gutteridge I managed to complete all three years of my college course and get a job in the industry I love.”

Emily’s story demonstrates the importance of following your passion. Her love for travelling has led her to a job that she is thriving in and has opened opportunities to travel and explore different pathways within her career.