7.3 Careers in Visitor Attractions

The popular types of visitor attractions introduced in this chapter offer a wide range of employment opportunities. Some of these offer career paths leading to specialized jobs, such as curator of a museum or zookeeper at a zoo. Some career paths enable work for a variety of visitor attractions. These include jobs in grant writing, education, private event management, and visitor services.

U.S. museums supported over 90,000 jobs in 2022, including work in admissions, marketing, membership, collections management, education, private events, and more (Statista Research Department, 2024). Collectively, AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums provide approximately 200,000 jobs (Marcy, 2021). Below is a list of the most common management and executive positions at heritage sites, which include museums, zoos, and aquariums (AZA, n.d.-b). This list is not exhaustive, and not all positions are found at all facilities.

Director or Chief Operating Officer: responsible for operations, policies, strategic planning, and future development

Finance Manager or Finance Director: responsible for finances, purchasing, investments, and reporting

General Curator: responsible for an entire animal, artifact, or art collection, strategic collection planning, and management staff

Specialized Curator: manage specific collections, such as animals or plants

Registrar: responsible for computer records, permits, and licenses for collection

Director of Research: responsible for academic connections and supervision of research projects and publications

Director of Conservation: responsible for a zoo’s or aquarium’s conservation activities

Head Keeper or Head Aquarist: responsible for daily wellbeing of animals

Operations Director or Operations Manager: responsible for daily operations

Curator of Exhibits: responsible for exhibits and exhibit design

Director of Education: responsible for the education programs offered by an institution

Public Relations, Affairs Manager, or Affairs Director: responsible for communication with the public and media

Development Director or Development Officer: responsible for fund-raising activities, such as writing grant proposals and finding corporate sponsors and private donors

Marketing Director or Marketing Manager: responsible for media and advertising campaigns

Special or Private Events Manager: responsible for developing special events or coordinating private event rentals

Membership Director or Membership Manager: responsible for an institution’s membership, including increasing membership and designing special member events

Gift Shop Manager: responsible for an institution’s store, its staff, and for buying products

Visitor Services Manager: responsible for admissions, concessions, and other activities to accommodate the visiting public

Human Resources, Personnel Manager, or Personnel Director: responsible for hiring, payroll, insurance, and all other personnel matters

Volunteer Coordinator: responsible for an institution’s volunteers, including recruitment, scheduling, and training

The amusement and theme park industry employs hundreds of thousands in the United States and beyond. In 2023, 225,000 people were employed by Disney Parks alone (Statistica, 2025). Universal and SeaWorld each have tens of thousands of employees. They work as designers, engineers, artists, landscapers, veterinarians, maintenance crew workers, ride operators, guest services workers, lifeguards, security personnel, food service workers, and janitorial, retail, and hotel staff among other jobs. Additionally, large corporate offices house indiviuals working in many types of roles, including executive, finance, marketing, human resources, IT, and various other business professions. Disney Parks in particular have an embedded philosophy that every guest-facing employee, or ‘cast member’, plays a critical role in the experience through courteous, friendly service. Other theme parks emulate this approach, having most employees seen by visitors act as part of the immersive experience.

Below are some examples of career opportunities at amusement and theme parks (Walt Disney Company, n.d.):

Business Support: business development, legal, human resources, administration, and operations

Consumer Goods: licensing and marketing of intellectual properties, growing and monetizing brands through packaged products, licensing, publishing, merchandising, and retailing

Creative: gaming, animation, content development, design, and other creative services

Finance, Data, and Analytics: data analysis, financial planning, accounting, treasury, auditing, and banking

Guest Service or Customer Service: provide operational services and also engage with and provide services to guests

Innovation, Technology, and Science(s): data science, building and maintaining technological and innovative systems and infrastructure

Marketing, Sales, and Communications: digital and social media management, communications, sales, and marketing

Operations Support: architectural design, facility and horticulture design, animal programs and sciences, and maintaining surroundings

Production and Entertainment: writing, production, operations and production assistance, entertaining, acting, stage work, and other support roles for live or filmed entertainment

Often career paths at heritage sites, amusement and theme parks, and other visitor attractions begin with front-line positions (ie. admissions staff, visitor services, event coordinators, volunteers, etc.). These hourly jobs often lead to management or executive, salaried positions and can be vital experience to succeed in more senior positions.

Industrial attractions are often focused primarily on their main industry product, like making sneakers, growing produce, or making chocolate. But within those companies, dedicated staff oversee  and market the guest experience at a facility and lead tours.

In addition to careers in visitor attractions, many trade groups employ industry professionals. These include organizations such as the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). Larger organizations utilize outside vendors for services like travel planning, group events, audio-visual, design, construction, marketing, public relations, and more. Given continued travel industry growth, demand should remain strong for qualified candidates with hospitality and recreation education.