Ariana (Kithes) Aaraj ’17 interned with Collette as a Bryant undergraduate and was assigned to the Rhode Island-based tourism company as the subject of her senior practicum, helping to chart a career course that led her to her current job planning tours for international travelers.
Aaraj’s path to Bryant, where she was an International Business major, was guided in part by her mother, Jennie (Zerva) Kithes '85, who graduated from Bryant with an Accounting degree and currently works in the Bryant Comptroller’s
office.
Prior to college, most of Aaraj’s overseas travel had been to Greece: her family emigrated to the United States in 1967 and returned often to visit. But the Woonsocket, R.I., native seized on a study abroad opportunity as a Bryant junior, spending a semester in Salamanca, Spain, and extending her trip to travel across Europe.
“In Salamanca, it was just me and the host woman I was living with,” she remembers. “She didn't speak a word of English, which means I became fluent in Spanish by the end of my time there, which was super valuable. I also got to learn about Spanish history and culture and traditions. I spent time with her mom and her nieces and nephews, so it was very immersive.”
Studying abroad “was so important for me to understand that there are people that live very differently than I do. And that's what sparked my love for travel and when I knew I wanted to work in travel,” says Aaraj.
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Another part of Aaraj’s Salamanca experience was interning in the export department at a company that produces the region’s famous Iberian ham. That was soon followed by her first position at Collette as an intern in the summer between her junior and senior years.
“I dropped off my resume at a Bryant career fair and they got in touch with me,” she recalls. “Then, when I started senior year and had the International Business practicum, we were all paired with different local companies, and they paired me with Collette. So, it was my internship, my project, and then it turned into my career.”
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Aaraj joined Collette immediately upon graduation in June 2017 as a marketing coordinator, later working as a partnership marketing specialist where she interfaced with local tourism boards to promote Collette’s tours.
When a position opened up on the company’s tour design team, Aaraj seized the new opportunity.
“I knew that the people that put these tours together go on the road and search for [tour] inclusions,” she says. “It was the dream for me. I just fell in love with being able to work with vendors and different people worldwide and putting together experiences for travelers.”
"I just fell in love with being able to work with vendors and different people worldwide and putting together experiences for travelers.”
In 2022, Aaraj stepped into her current position of tour design manager, meaning she has direct control over what goes into 20 of Collette’s 160 tours worldwide.
“I oversee Eastern Canada, Eastern and Southern U.S., Hawaii, Turkey, and Greece,” she says. “I'm either working to enhance tours year over year or managing them. If there are opportunities for new tours, I work on that, as well.”
The travel and research related to her job has also enabled Aaraj to connect more deeply with her Greek heritage.
“I have family there, so usually I'm able to extend my trips and spend time with them,” she says. “It has definitely helped with my Greek language, and I think seeing certain things through the traveler's eyes is really interesting — to hear their feedback and see things they notice that may be second nature to me.”
One of the new tours she recently developed brings travelers to some of the lesser-known islands in Greece, including Crete and Naxos where, according to ancient Greek mythology, the god Zeus was raised in a cave.
“For a new tour, I plan a design trip to the region and meet with all of the potential partners that I'm looking to work with,” she says. “We’re on the ground checking on what the hotels are like in the area, what the restaurants are like, how walkable the city is, and what things are there to do. We always leave time to find hidden gems that we didn't know existed or that weren't on the map.”
"We always leave time to find hidden gems that we didn't know existed or that weren't on the map.”
For example, “When I was designing the new tour to Crete, I saw on the side of a road a sign that said, ‘Women's Co-op Cafe.’ We went inside and started talking with the woman who had started the cafe with her daughter and a bunch of other women. They showed us their kitchen and said they do cooking classes, and now we work with them as part of our tour.”
Bryant students looking to pursue their own passions in the workplace should take full advantage of the networking and personal development opportunities available at the school, says Aaraj.
“I really appreciate all of the opportunities that Bryant gave students in connecting us with local companies,” she says, adding: “I think often we feel in our senior year of college that we need to have everything all figured out. And I didn't know. I started in marketing, but then when I was at the company, I realized there was something else in this industry that I wanted to do. So, have an open mind, but also know that it's okay if you don't have a plan immediately, because what you can experience in the workforce can really be valuable.”
“I really appreciate all of the opportunities that Bryant gave students in connecting us with local companies."
As she contemplates her career journey, Aaraj credits Bryant and the direction she received as a student for leading her to a job she loves.
“If not for Bryant and that career fair, I would not be where I am right now,” says Aaraj.