7.3 Careers in Visitor Attractions
Meagan A. McGuire
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.
Responsible for operations, policies, strategic planning, and future development.
Responsible for finances, purchasing, investments, and reporting.
Responsible for the entire animal, artifact, or art collection, strategic collection planning, and management staff. Specialized curators, such as Animal Curators or Curators of Horticulture, manage specific collections.
Responsible for computer records, permits, and licenses for collection.
Responsible for academic connections and surpervision of research projects and publications.
Responsible for a zoos or aquarium’s conservation activities.
Responsible for daily wellbeing of animals.
Responsible for daily operations.
Responsible for exhibits and exhibit design.
Responsible for the education programs offered by an institution.
Responsible for communicaiton with the public and media.
Responsible for fund-raising activities, such as grant proposals, corporate sponors, and private donations.
Responsible for media and advertising campaigns.
Responsible for developing special events or coordinating private event rentals.
Responsible for an institution’s membership, including increasing membership and/or designing special member events.
Responsible for institution’s store, store staff, and buying product.
Responsible for admissions, concessions, and other activities to accommodate the visiting public.
Responsible for hiring, payroll, insurance, and all other personnel matters.
Responsible for an institution's volunteers, including recruitment, scheduling, and training