Ian Scott, travel industry marketing manager, Disneyland Paris
Education: nine GCSEs, four A’levels, BSc (Hons) International Business Studies and French, Aston University, DipMS (Diploma in Management Studies), Reading University.
Training: several courses organised through the Walt Disney Company.
First travel Job: voluntary work for a small Montreal-based company, specialising in incentive travel (part of university placement year).
Career path: after graduation, I joined First Choice Holidays and Flights on a management training course. This course gave me exposure to many aspects of the travel industry, including secondments to the airline, customer service and reservations and also marketing, which is where I eventually settled. For a brief period I moved out of the travel industry when in 1997 I joined the Walt Disney Company as product manager for Walt Disney Records. After 18 months in that role I moved back into the industry when I was appointed travel industry marketing manager for Disneyland Paris in April 1999.
Advice for people wishing to develop a career in travel: “Be open minded and prepared to learn as much as you can about the business around you. Working as an overseas rep, making the coffee on board a charter flight, being a costume character in Disneyland Paris, or spending a day in a distribution warehouse are often the experiences that prove to be the most valuable.”