Tracey's 'putt' a lot of hard work into landing dream role

“From a very young age, my parents always had us on holidays. I just loved the whole lifestyle of travelling and getting on an airplane.”

For Tracey Mooney, those childhood adventures sparked a lifelong passion for tourism. Today, she’s living her dream as Director of Sales and Marketing at NI Golf Tours, but her journey began with a clear vision and plenty of hard work.

After completing her GCSEs, Tracey studied a GNVQ in leisure and tourism before going on to university in England where she studied travel and tourism management.

“I then took on a role in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council’s tourism department, where I stayed for 22 years,” she explained.

“I started off working in tourism and arts before working my way up to product development and trade engagement officer. My role was to help the industry develop their experiences before going out to international markets to sell it.”

That experience has carried through to her dream role with NI Golf Tours.

“I always said that I would only leave my job in the council if my dream job, working in the golf market, became available,” she said.

“In this role, I'm building the relationships with our suppliers and then I go out to all the international markets – mostly the USA as that's where our primary clients come from – and I try to recruit business from a sales perspective.

“We arrange transfers, do meet and greets at the airport, and take the tourists to their accommodation and their golf courses daily. If they have partners with them we organise the off-course experiences. Those could involve distillery tours, bread-making experiences, food and drink tours, a visit to the Titanic Museum - all wide range of experiences right across the island.”

With fantastic courses such as Royal Portrush and Royal County Down luring golfers from across the Atlantic, Northern Ireland is very much “the place to be” according to Tracey, who revels in getting feedback from guests.

“It’s knowing that you’re going to be able to give these customers the opportunity of a lifetime… there’s that job satisfaction you get - you know they’ve had a really, really good time.”

Tracey says following her childhood dreams to get into tourism and hospitality is “the best move I’ve ever made”.

She had this advice for anyone thinking of following their dream: “You have to be a people person - building relationships is key to this job. You need to enjoy the tourism and hospitality industry and love what you're doing.

“It’s hard work but ultimately it’s really rewarding.”

Tourism Northern Ireland’s Make It Here campaign is encouraging more people to embrace a career in the tourism and hospitality industry. If you’re considering switching careers  and want to learn more about opportunities in this growing sector, visit www.makeyourcareer.co.uk for further information.