5 of the Strangest Jobs in the Travel Industry

When we think of potential jobs in the travel industry, many of us picture coquettish stewardesses, enthusiastic tour drivers or knowledgeable museum guides. However, we dug a little deeper and found that there are stacks of totally bizarre jobs up for grabs in the travel sector. Let’s take a look at 5 of the strangest jobs in the travel industry!

1) India’s Monkey Men

Believe it or not, top hotels in India actually employ ‘monkey men’ to keep mischievous local monkeys from interfering with their guests. These shameless primates are known to steal everything from food to valuables from tourists. When it comes to travel jobs in India, this is one of the weirdest! It’s not all fun and games, though – not when New Delhi has a population of over 10,000 pesky macaques, who can get aggressive if they think you’re hiding their food!

2) Parisian Sewer Guide

Plenty of people probably dream about pursuing a career as a translator in Paris. The job becomes a little less appealing when you’re employed to translate for a professional tour guide taking tourists on a loooong tour through the egouts (i.e. the Parisian sewer system). Fascinating? Yes. Still a little gross? Kinda.

3) Switzerland’s Airport Wildlife Managers

Just like the monkey business in India, Switzerland has animal troubles all of its own! Zurich’s major international airport is not so conveniently located in the middle of section of endangered marshland. For this reason, roughly half the airport’s land is being used for nature conservation. Because of this, the airport employs its own wildlife managers to make sure that boars, ducks and other animals don’t impede landings or take-offs from the runways.

4) British Bed Warmer

Another very unusual travel industry job is that of the British bed warmer. In 2010, some British hotels decided that electric blankets were passé and instead employed individuals to manually warm guest’s beds with their own bodies. Science has shown that people get a better night’s sleep if they slip into a bed that’s already at 20 to 24 degrees Celsius. Although the ‘bed warmers’ are dressed in special ‘all-in-one sleeper suits’ for hygienic reasons, we don’t think the trend is going to catch on!

5) Miami Tanning Butler

Being sun-smart is always a good idea, but that doesn’t stop tourists wanting to work on their tans. So, maybe it’s not all that surprising some ritzy, upscale hotels in South Beach now employ butlers to rub sunblock lotion onto guests’ bodies. We wonder if it’s enough of a perk oiling up all those South Beach beauties to make up for having to rub down some leathery, retired Florida natives!

Every industry has some off-beat jobs, but the travel sector definitely has some of the most unusual positions available. Next time you’re fed up of your long work commute, spare a thought for the translator who just spent all day standing around in the Parisian sewer system!