Meet our newest team member and City Campus Tutor, Daria!
Our newest team member and City Campus Tutor, Daria, during a 2023 trip to Sicily.
ITC’s newest team member grew up around tourism and hospitality, so it’s no surprise that her career has been rich in travel and tourism experiences.
Not only has Daria built a career on her love of tourism, but she also made the decision early on to share those skills with others. That’s how she ended up as the newest member on our team, and that’s why we’re so excited to have her on board to help lead our students towards their own incredible careers!
We chatted with Daria to learn more about her background, and what she can offer for ITC students.
How did you begin your passion for the tourism industry?
My parents owned a motel and restaurant in the Bay of Islands and so I grew up around a lot of people on holiday. That is definitely where the seed was planted. At 19 I was very lucky and travelled to Europe with Mum and we spent 6 months travelling around Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Switzerland, Germany and Italy by Eurail – visiting her pick of churches and my pick of art galleries!
When I came back home I couldn’t think about any other job except wanting to work in the travel industry. I started with a job at Mt Cook Airlines who had an office in Paihia and I have never looked back.
What does your travel industry history look like?
After I completed a travel and tourism course I got my first job working in wholesale travel operations at Atlantic and Pacific Travel and worked my way from Finalisations (putting together the ticket wallets) through to Reservations and eventually became Reservations Supervisor.
Next stop was London on my OE where I worked in a big wholesale company on our VIP Reservations desk, which looked after our top retail travel agencies around the UK. Eventually I moved into Retail Travel with Bridge the World Travel Centre where we specialised in overland truck travel through Asia and Africa as well as RTW tickets which were valid for a year and fully flexible.
Once I got back to New Zealand, I decided to move into training as I really enjoyed sharing my work experiences. I have since specialised in travel technology, especially GDS systems. My most recent role was working for an OTA based in Europe, training Customer Service agents on Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo/Travelport and Farelogix.
Daria in Austria in 2023.
What was your favourite job you’ve done (aside from your new role at ITC!)?
Definitely it would be working for Kiwi.com in the Czech Republic through Covid. It was an incredible experience to see how the company kept reinventing itself through the different challenges of the pandemic. There was lots of cross team collaboration and I worked alongside so many nationalities. It was amazing to work for a “disruptor” after working for legacy companies for all of my career.
How will your experience help support students?
I think I have a great range of experiences from working in operations of wholesale, retail and OTAs and did I mention I’m a tour guide in training? I love this industry and I think my passion, together with experience will give inspiration to ITC students.
What are you looking forward to the most in your new role?
Getting to know students and what makes them tick and then helping them discover what corner of the industry they think they are suited for. Above that I will be very stoked to hear about the students that have put in the work and have achieved the very best thing, getting their first role in the travel industry. 100% that will be so satisfying!
What do you think are the most important skills to have in the tourism industry?
I think there are many skills but very valuable is listening to your customers. You may be in a job to book and help to organise travel or maybe you will be dealing with people during their travels. Either way, travellers often have a lot on their mind. It can be very stressful, so really listen, keep up to date on the products you are selling so you can provide reliable information and communicate clearly. We are in the business of providing details, be accurate!
What is your best advice for those getting into the industry now?
Any opportunity you get at ITC, whether it’s a tour, a work experience week or just a regular day at college – ask questions, be enthusiastic, show interest and make a good impression. We are in contact with many companies and on top of that we have our own industry contacts. A foot or even a toe in the door can really lead to great roles, so knowing that you are reliable, keep good time and have a great attitude is all we need from you :)
Enrol at ITC to learn from incredible people like Daria!
Daria is a fantastic example of the kinds of talents we have on the team at ITC. Everyone – absolutely everyone – here loves travel, and has held tourism roles in all sorts of places around New Zealand and the world. We know it’s so important for the next generation of tourism professionals to learn from the last, which is why everyone you meet at ITC can speak from experience.
Contact us here to learn more about enrolling at ITC!
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