The UK government has announced it will pinpoint and promote new talent at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival through a new £100,000 funding package. 

Initially, the cash will be invested in technology and digital resources for artists. 

This will see a more streamlined accreditation and ticket request system, as well as enhancement of website and mobile phone apps. 

Longer-term, the hope is that artists will also be able to recruit brokers to take shows across the UK and abroad. 

The Edinburgh event is just one of many festivals held annually in the UK and, despite being a small island, the nation has a massive pull for visitors, who come to enjoy the arts, heritage, culture and landscapes. 

With record visitor numbers forecast for this year by VisitBritain, 41.7 million visits could bring £26.9 billion into the UK coffers – that’s a rise of 6.8% on 2017. 

Of course, this year we can thank Harry and Meghan for attracting royal watchers from across the globe, but it’s up to the rest of the tourism and hospitality industry to make sure those visitors come back again and again.  

Many of these vital roles can be found among the vacancies online. 

Receptionist 

The receptionist is the friendly frontline in any business. From hotels to visitor centres to restaurants, the first person you see is living proof that first impressions matter. 

It’s more than customer service with a smile. A good receptionist should be able to answer queries quickly and efficiently and have the listening skills and patience to deal with visitors who may struggle with English. 

It’s also an excellent entry-level job to many different job sectors. Some IT knowledge and a good phone manner are essential – and, of course, people skills.  

Communications Officer 

Online you’ll also find this role tagged under press officer, media officer or a combination of all three.  

Essentially this is all about communicating with the public through all forms of media – whether that’s conventional newspapers, radio and TV or, more recently, via social media channels.  

For the UK’s many festivals this summer and throughout the year, communication officers secure coverage for their venue or show and organise press review tickets and monitor coverage throughout the month. 

There are dedicated courses, generally in PR, but some applicants come to the role through previous experience as a blogger or journalist. 

Hotel Manager 

From Colwyn Bay to Canterbury, visitors need a fine food and a good night’s sleep. The best hotel managers should be the invisible force that makes every part of the hotel run smoothly, from reception to catering to housekeeping, as well as having responsibility for hotel finances and budgets. 

The range of tourism, catering and hospitality opportunities on s1jobs shows just how varied hotel work can be. 

It’s possible to work through the ranks and many large hotel groups have management training programmes for graduates, while degrees in hospitality management are another way to fast-track to the top. 

Curator 

All through the summer the UK’s museums and art galleries see a huge rise in visitor numbers, so planning the exhibition calendar is vital. 

Curators are responsible for pulling exhibitions together and looking after the permanent collections. 

It’s a competitive field and it’s rare anyone achieves this without a degree in their specialised area or a qualification in museum or heritage studies.  

However, other roles – perhaps as a visitor assistant, café barista or shop assistant – can be great ways to get experience and knowledge for a career in curating. 

If you’d like to kickstart your own career this summer there’s a huge range of roles available right now online.