Strangest Jobs in the Travel Industry

Tourism Ambassador
Japan

No one really expects an ambassador of tourism to be an elder statesman—after all, this person’s job is to make the idea of visiting the home city or country sound fun. But one does expect such a role to be filled by a person. Japan opted to fill that spot with Hello Kitty, the big-headed anime character that has been pictured on coin purses and children’s tea sets since the 1970’s.

Where to Spot Her: It’s hard to imagine that Hello Kitty will be attending many ribbon-cuttings in Japan, since her official bio lists her residence as London. Hello Kitty’s reps say that, for now, her appearances will be mostly at events or in ads in Hong Kong and mainland China. —Katrina Brown Hunt