If you think you feel an attractive pull towards the different places in the world and your passion to want to visit them and tell other people about it is strong, then being a travel agent is the career for you. You will get to know about many places around the world and since it is a passion, you will be able to serve your clients in the best way possible.
You serve them by helping them pick the best travel packages and marketing the new deals from different travel companies along the way. This way a travel agent also becomes a sort of sales person, getting commission for the number of sales they make.
To become a travel agent, you need to have at least a graduation degree. Some firms hire agents who took travels and tourism as a subject during their college while others prefer the ones who took geography, foreign languages or world history as a subject in college. A good travel agent keeps on adding to his knowledge by continuing education in order to satisfy the curious clients and be at par with the knowledgeable ones.
Since internet has made every kind of knowledge accessible to people, an agent will only be able to answer the queries of the clients when he knows more than them and is up to date with the latest happenings in the travel world.
There is a Travel Institute which offers specialized agent courses to experiences travel agents which leads to the Certified Travel Associate (CTA) and Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) designations. The institute has some skill development programs which are must-have skills for a good travel agent. They include marketing and sales skill development programs. Specialized education leads to better credibility and enhanced pay.
Travel agents are responsible for all sorts of related duties. They give advices to their clients regarding their intended destinations. They are also responsible for the arranging the accommodation, transport, tours, rentals and recreation for their clients during their stay.
They also make their clients aware of the weather situation in their intended destination and how does it look like to change during his stay there. They give the currency exchange rates and provide information on the custom regulations to the client so that he does not go there unaware of the country laws and culture.
A successful travel agent is:
- Focused
- Disciplined
- Well organized
- Detail oriented
- Provides with accurate facts
- Professional
- Courteous
- A good communicator
- A good writer
The success of a travel agent depends on how well he can assess his client’s financial status and his mind set. Clients love those agents who will show them the packages that best conform to their liking. A good travel agent also knows how to convince his client in a polite manner to choose the best package which suits both of them. A good agent will judge the character of the person and present him with the deals according to his liking and a bit of better ones. A successful agent can get his client to agree with the better ones. This is a marketing strategy.