A love of travel brings Nathan to a new career destination
You could say that travel is in Nathan Burrows' DNA. His interest in travel and tourism started as a child when he travelled nationally and internationally due to his father's work. In his first 14 years, he was born overseas, lived in seven different cities, attended five primary and two high schools, enjoyed international holidays, and experienced many different cultures. But although Nathan later settled in Melbourne, the travel bug was biting, and he set off to travel independently throughout Scandinavia, western Europe and Southeast Asia.
After working in the finance and consulting industries for 20 years in project management, the time felt right for a career change and this time it was the study of travel that called - prompting Nathan to pursue his travel career dreams.
Nathan began the Advanced Diploma of Travel and Tourism Management at William Angliss Institute in 2017 and enjoyed it so much he went on to study the Bachelor of Tourism (Marketing) in 2018. Receiving study credits from the Advanced Diploma, Nathan completed the Bachelor degree in one and a half years.
In his studies, Nathan's experience in project management was an advantage. "The course integrated theory into practice with the assessments and exceeded my expectations," he said. "My lecturers brought a wealth of knowledge from their areas of industry and showed a genuine interest in helping students to achieve their full potential to succeed."
Nathan found that his assessments were by far the most interesting and challenging. "Being presented with a real-life scenario, researching solutions and providing recommendations to a client's problem was extremely rewarding," he said.
Solving real-life problems was something that brought together Nathan's skills in project management, his studies in travel and tourism, and a creative mind. He has presented ideas to Parks Victoria on the re-design and beautification of an existing bird feeding area into a multi-purpose venue incorporating engagement with all traditional landowner groups to design and theme a public art installation.
A concept that Nathan presented to Zoos Victoria was a 'Mindfulness and Connecting with Nature' app which allows users to virtually experience the peaceful environs of Healesville Sanctuary, at their own pace, providing people with an escape from their urban environs and busy lifestyles to retreat and refocus.
Nathan's childhood dream, which unsurprisingly involved travel, was to be an airline pilot working for Qantas. "It was the uniform, being in control of an aircraft and experiencing new destinations," he said. "Whilst I worked towards that dream and it did not eventuate, my dream job is to still work for Qantas or another major airline in a corporate role."
