Tourism Operations Internships in Dublin
This tourism internship offers an incredible mix of sightseeing and career development. Interns are placed with tour companies in Dublin, taking part in diverse activities and identifying areas of improvement. Assist with social media marketing and customer service for leading tourism operators, and experience Ireland’s most popular attractions while you do it!
Internship Highlights:
- Build your experience providing amazing service to real life customers.
- Develop networks and relationship-building skills, communicating with multinational, multicultural teams and clients.
- Enjoy free time to explore the colorful sites and attractions of Dublin.
Type of host organizations:
- Tour companies
Internship details
This internship offers career development within Dublin’s colorful tourism sector. Interns assist to understand diverse aspects of tourism operations, learning about customer service, assisting with tourism activities for clients, and identifying areas of improvement. Assist with social media marketing and customer service for leading tourism operators, and experience Ireland’s most popular attractions while you do it!
This is an in-country internship, with accommodation provided. Click here to check out remote internships, which you can undertake from home.
There are a range of placements available within this field, which can include day-trip companies, tour agencies, and popular attractions. Interns support a range of activities related to the customer experience and can be instrumental in reviewing how operations and services may be improved. Administrative activities can be related to sales, customer service or other marketing activities such as social media marketing, writing blogs, and digital design.
With internships available from as little as two weeks, this is a perfect opportunity for interns wanting shorter experiences. Longer term interns (i.e. four weeks or longer) can request to work in specific roles, such as SEO marketing and sales. These requests will be accommodated wherever possible, but are not guaranteed.
In all cases, interns should expect that the first week of your experience will focus on settling in and gaining some introductory knowledge, as you will not “hit the ground running”. Rather, you should start with learning about the placement to gain an understanding of what you can build upon, develop, learn, and contribute. Ensure that you ask questions and provide feedback during the introductory period, so that your supervisor understands how you’re progressing. This will help them to better understand important details, such as how quickly you learn, what you find challenging, what you find interesting, etc.
Understand and expect that individual internship experiences vary, as the specific placement that you’re assigned will depend on review of your resume and your current level of studies and experience. Therefore, if you’re at a more introductory level, you should reasonably expect a more introductory internship. Likewise, if you’re interning for a shorter duration, you will have a different experience from someone who is interning for a longer duration. Placement preferences are considered but always subject to availability.
Typical Schedule
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The typical internship timetable is expected to be full time, Monday through Friday, but some schedules can vary, depending on tour operations.
Career Benefits
Tourism Operations interns learn from a qualified and experienced supervisor, and can be involved in:
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Customer service and front of house duties.
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Advising clients, assisting with bookings and itineraries.
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Liaising with local vendors.
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Creating promotional materials.
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Event coordination.
Professional development opportunities:
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Gain experience assisting in a busy tourism office.
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Understand tourism activities from the perspective of a tourist.
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Contribute original photos, blogs and social media content.
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Gain customer service experience in selling tickets to tours around Ireland.
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Gain practical skills and boost your employability, with guidance from Intern Abroad HQ’s Experiential Learning Curriculum to support your learning and cultural intelligence.
Are you eligible for this internship?
Submit a free application so we can confirm your eligibility and check availability for your preferred dates.
Not sure which program to join?
Ireland photo gallery
What recent interns said about their experience
I enjoyed how diverse the people I worked with was. I have never provided customer service, or even communicated, with the people of European countries such as France and Italy. This internship gave me a wider perspective on cultural differences and also gave me confidence to speak up and help others in need, and the feeling of accomplishment after making a customer from a very different background satisfied, could not be explained in words. It felt great! Overall, this experience made me sure that I would like to continue my career in the tourism industry, by providing guidance to tourists from all over the world to enjoy their precious stay with my assistance.
During my internship in Ireland I was paired with a tourism company, working with their sales team. I helped with the customer service and went on a different tour every week. My supervisors and colleagues were really nice. I really enjoyed my time. Thank you for organizing everything.
I had the opportunity to do a lot of different tasks throughout my placement and I loved that some days were more structured and some days I got to bounce around and try new things! I learned so many things about myself and what parts of the industry I enjoyed more than others. Best experience ever!!
I enjoyed every last minute living in Dublin, the people were great, the city was cool and overall I had a great time. My work at the internship didn't feel like work, because I was with such nice people. However, I still learned a lot about business and working life in general and I believe that this internship helped me with my development and was a first step into my professional life.
My internship involves me being a secret shopper, where they send me to the Cliffs of Moher, or Galway, or Wicklow - a whole bunch of places - and I would have to rate the tours after they were over, compile the details, and present back to the company. I learned about marketing and how to run social media websites for a tourist company. What I enjoyed most about my time in Ireland was working for a tourism company and learning the ins and outs of it and then feeling confident afterwards, knowing that I could work for a company in Ireland, get used to the culture, get used to being in this type of work environment and feel confident about it. The boss will make you feel comfortable and that’s what made this entire trip with it.
To read all reviews, visit our reviews page.
Academic credit available for all internships
Gain course credit from your college or university and meet your academic requirements when completing an internship abroad or remote internship program with Intern Abroad HQ.
Learn about course creditProgram fees
It’s free to apply for this internship. Once we have reviewed your suitability and accepted you onto this program, you’ll need to pay a deposit of US$499 to confirm your place. The remaining balance of your Program Fee (less your initial US$499 deposit payment) will be due no less than 60 days before your internship start date.
Duration |
Program Fee (USD) |
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2 weeks | $2,994 Equivalent to $213 /day |
3 weeks | $3,372 Equivalent to $160 /day |
4 weeks | $3,800 Equivalent to $135 /day |
5 weeks | $4,178 Equivalent to $119 /day |
6 weeks | $4,581 Equivalent to $109 /day |
8 weeks | $5,337 Equivalent to $95 /day |
10 weeks | $6,148 Equivalent to $87 /day |
12 weeks | $6,904 Equivalent to $82 /day |
- Airport pick-up
- Daily breakfast and dinner (except for Tourism Operations internships)
- Accommodation
- 24/7 in-country support
- Program orientation
- Dedicated support before, during, and after your internship
- In-country guidance for social and tourist activities
- Sourcing and securing your internship placement
- Personalization of your internship plan
- Coaching from your supervisor
- Documented portfolio of your experiential learnings
- Academic credit facilitation
- International reference letter
- Certificate of Internship Completion
- Meals
- All in-country transportation
- Visa (if required), flights, travel insurance (mandatory), vaccinations, criminal background check
- Transfer back to the airport at the end of your internship program
- Personal spending money for snacks, drinks, public transport, laundry, and leisure activities during your free time.
- A deposit of $499 (approximately 499) is required to secure your internship
- Balance of your Program Fee is due 70 days before your internship start date. The Program Fee payment can also be completed in installments through our Zero-Fee Payment Plan. Learn more.
- All payments attract a 5% transaction fee to cover international banking fees and currency charges.
- Terms and Conditions apply.
Activities and tourism
During the weekends, free time is available to relax, engage in tourism activities and explore other parts of Ireland. Dublin’s history goes back thousands of years and there is a lot to explore! You’ll find museums, castles, theatres, parks, festivals, art galleries, cafes, and pubs abuzz with various happenings, year-round.
The city is sometimes described in quarters, comprising of the “Medieval Quarter” (including Dublin Castle, Christ Church, St Patrick’s Cathedral and the old city walls), the “Georgian Quarter” (including the area around St Stephen’s Green shopping mall, Trinity College, and Merrion Square), the “Docklands Quarter” and the “Cultural Quarter” (around the Temple Bar district).
Make sure you get “The Dublin Pass” which is a must-have sightseeing package. It grants free entry to over 25 top attractions, museums and monuments, as well as a free 24-Hour hop-on, hopp-off bus tour. You can choose from 1, 2, 3 or 5 day passes and it’s free to pick up the pass if you collect it from Dublin collection desks, located within the city, or - have it sent straight to your smartphone.
If you want to get some exercise and fresh air outside of the city, there are plenty of activities that’ll help keep you fit (you’ll need to bookmark these ideas, to ensure you burn off your Guinness and fish n’ chips). You can go kayaking in Dalkey, kite surfing in Clontarf, or hike around the Hill of Howth. Dublin Discovery Trails offers a series of self-guided walking trails, or rent a bicycle to cruise around the city. If you want more cardio, check out Ticknock Mountain Bike Trail to ride the 8km loop within the Dublin Mountains.
Arrival and Orientation
Internships in Dublin begin every Monday and interns may choose to spend a minimum of 2 weeks, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. (Exceptions to start date availability may occur when start dates are closed due to public holiday disruptions or if the program has already reached capacity).
Airport pick up and accommodation are included in the Program Fee. The accommodation is covered from the Sunday night before the Monday start date. Interns are asked to arrive on the Sunday before their Monday start date only. Extra nights of accommodation in advance of the start date are not available, so if you do arrive in Dublin prior to this date, you will need to make alternative accommodation arrangements, prior to checking in on the Sunday, before your scheduled to start the internship on the Monday.
All participants fly into Dublin Airport (DUB), in order to receive their airport pick up and be transported to the accommodation by a pre-arranged driver. Upon arrival at the homestay accommodation, interns are met and greeted by their host family, who will assist with settling in. (If you are planning to spend time in Dublin prior to your internship and will not require an airport pick up, we can arrange an alternative pick up from another location within the central city.)
Orientation takes place - usually on your Monday start date - and covers important details for the internship, including introductions, information about culture, customs, rules, expectations, safety, language lessons, cultural excursions, and more. You will be contacted via WhatsApp, prior to the orientation, to confirm plans directly.
The last night of the accommodation is the Saturday night of the final week, leaving interns free to depart on Sunday. Extra nights of accommodation outside the program dates are not available. Return transportation to the airport is not included in the internship program fee but local staff can assist you to make arrangements.
All participants are advised not to book flights until they have first registered to confirm their internship placement.
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Accommodation and WiFi
Interns in Dublin are hosted in friendly and welcoming homestay accommodations. In the event that home-stay accommodation has reached maximum capacity, interns may be offered alternative accommodation in student dormitories (but meals are excluded in these circumstances).
Due to the layout of Dublin city, host families are usually based in suburban areas outside of the capital. Host family accommodation assignments are always made in consideration of the internship placement location, making efforts to ensure that any commute time to the placement is as convenient as possible. Nevertheless, it is wise to anticipate an average commute time of up to 45 - 60 minutes via bus or Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (“DART” is an electrified commuter rail railway network, which serves the coastal and city center of Dublin).
Interns can purchase a weekly Dublin bus pass (LEAP card), which allows interns to ‘top up’ and enjoy unlimited travel on city center forms of transport. Expect to budget approx. €40 (approx. US$47) per week for this. Homestay accommodation includes a light laundry service and single room.
It is important to note that extra nights of accommodation are not available with homestay accommodations. The Program Fee covers the accommodation from the Sunday night before the Monday start date and interns are required to depart by the Sunday morning of their last week. If extra nights of accommodation are required for an earlier arrival or later departure, they must be booked independently.
Please note that the accommodation pictured in the photo gallery of this webpage is provided as an example. Since we work with more than one option for accommodation, the exact accommodation that you’re assigned may differ from the photos. However, you can expect a similar standard and similar amenities, to what is shown.
Meals
Homestay accommodations include meals, provided by the host family. This consists of breakfast and dinner, served Monday through Sunday.
It is important to be aware that vegetarian and other dietary requirements must be communicated in advance. There is an additional weekly surcharge if a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or vegan diet is requested. This is in order to provide specialty grocery items, which are often more expensive (e.g. soy milk, gluten free bread/pasta, protein supplements, etc). Once you have confirmed your internship participation, you can book and pay for this weekly surcharge in advance.
In all cases, we advise interns to budget independently for their own lunches, snacks and treats. You’ll find the meals to be sufficient but likely different from what you’re used to eating at home. If there are special snacks you like to have, please budget for them and take care of your own preferences independently. A weekly budget of approximately US$100 should be sufficient for covering extra snacks, treats, and drinks, as a supplement to what’s already going to be included for you.
Keep in mind that, depending on your own spending habits and lifestyle choices, personal budgets can vary enormously. Dublin is very active and there is a lot to see and do, so it’s important to plan your budget carefully. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant may cost approximately US$25. If you want to frequently purchase beverages, such as coffees (approx. US$5), then you’re definitely going to need a higher budget over the course of a week or month. You can manage your budget by buying snack food for your lunches, such as fruit or sandwiches, from markets, rather than dining at restaurants.
Essential country information
Capital | Dublin |
Population | 4.77 million |
Languages | English, Irish, Ulster Scots |
Currency | Euro (EUR) |
Time zone | UTC+00:00 |
Weather and climate:
Ireland has a mild, temperate climate with warm summers and mild winters. However, the weather likes to keep you guessing, so you’ll probably experience a little of everything - four seasons in one day! So be flexible and pack for all seasons. You just never know what you might get! In Dublin, the warmest months are June through September, with an average daily high temperature above 62°F (16°C). It is cold and wet from November through March, with an average daily high temperature below 51°F (11°C). Varying degrees of wind, rain, and cloud cover can be expected year-round.