How to Become a Travel Agent

Travel agency jobs come up with various roles and responsibilities. A travel agent goes through the vast information to find the best options to plan trips for their customers. Travel agents visit various locations and cities in order to get first-hand experience. They visit hotels and resorts to evaluate their services such as comfort, hygiene and cleanliness, the quality of food and other things. This experience benefits them as they can recommend their vacation packages to their clients and hence they will make profits on commissions as well. 

Individuals in travel agent careers contact airlines and hotels to make travel arrangements. There is a travel system commonly known as a Global Distribution System or GDS widely used by travel agents to access travel information and contact travel suppliers such as airlines, and hotels to make reservations.

Make travel arrangements

A travel agent is responsible for arranging business travel and vacation travel for his or her customers. He or she organises the trip which involves reserving flights, hotels, rented cars and other facilities for a comfortable journey.

Manage customers

The prime responsibility of a travel agent is to understand what his or her customer wants, and what they do require such as schedules and costs.

Planning tour packages

A travel agent is responsible for planning and arranging tour packages that incursions and day trips. A tour package involves visits and sightseeing of places depending on the interest of clients. A travel agent makes each arrangement as per the timings and budget that suits the client.

Budgeting

A travel agent stays informed about fares and the schedule of travel. A travel agent stays updated with the fare charges of airlines, buses and rented cars. He or she stays updated about the schedule of airlines and other developments for travel and plans the budget accordingly.

Booking

A travel agent confirms reservations for travel, hotel, airlines, rental cars, and events such as tours and excursions on the scheduled date and timing and informs the same to his or her customers.

Describing customs and traditions

A travel agent describes his or her customer about the weather conditions, customs, and other major attractions of the cities or destinations they are planning to visit.

Making alternative arrangements

A travel agent makes alternate travel bookings if a sudden change arises during the trip or before. A travel agent always has several options for last-minute travel or alternative plans. They do not panic and make it a smooth trip for their clients.

There are various sub-disciplines of travel agent careers. If you are planning to opt for a career in the travel industry, then you must be aware of various types of a travel agent or travel agent career options. We have mentioned below the major types of travel agent jobs.

Leisure Travel Agent: Leisure travel agents sell vacation packages to their clients. They plan and arrange trips as per the interest and budgets of the clients. They plan adventure tours. The leisure travel agents may also cater to a specific group of people such as senior citizens or single people.

Corporate Travel Agent: Corporate travel agents are responsible for making travel arrangements for businesses. They plan and organise trips for the employees of an organisation for the purpose of business meetings or to attend conferences.

Retail Travel Agent: Retail travel agents advise the general people about the travelling requirements such as visas, and passports. They provide information about the exchange of currency for those who are travelling to foreign nations. They provide all the necessary information such as timetables and travel literature. A retail travel agent computes fare costs, makes reservations, and sells tour packages developed by wholesale travel companies.

Web-Based Travel Agent: A web-based travel agent sells holiday and tour packages over the Internet. He or she provides all the information about accommodation and flight bookings on the Internet. Web-based travel agents make last-minute travel deals with varieties of options for travel convenient. It saves time and money to visit other travel agents to make bookings at the last minute.

So. these were the various types of travel agency jobs offered in the career of a travel agent. To know about how to become a travel agent, a list of careers in the tour and travel industry and other information, you are required to keep reading this article.

Travel agent careers are based on providing assistance to individuals and groups to plan and arrange travel. It includes facilitating ticket purchases for travel, reserving accommodations for stay, and renting cars. Travel agents recommend travel packages to their clients while assisting them in booking vacation packages that include a tour and visiting specific locations of their interest. 

Individuals who opt for a career as a travel agent typically earn commissions for booking arrangements from the providers themselves. A travel agent is allowed to have access to real-time variable data. Travel agents work with individuals to plan trips including multiple destinations, transportation modes, and sightseeing.

Does Travel Agent require travelling?

Likely

All the careers in the tour and travel industry do not require travelling. There are also home-based corporate travel agent jobs. Individuals in travel agent careers are assigned a desk job, unlike a travel guide who accompanies the client during the whole trip. It depends on the organisation if it assigns several responsibilities to a travel agent that requires travel. Otherwise, travelling is not a necessity.

Employment Shifts

Full Time

A career as a travel agent ensures full-time and work-from-home employment opportunities. There is no scope for hourly basis employment.

Employment Nature

Contractual, Permanent

The Travel Industry offers both types of employment contractual and permanent. It depends on the requirements of the organisation and travel agent careers with varying job roles.

Work Place

Office, On-Field, Work From Home

In a career as a travel agent, individuals work in an office setting. There are also home-based corporate travel agent jobs available in the industry. Several travel agents require to travel on a regular basis. Travel agency jobs vary depending on the requirements of organisations.

Presence in Geographical Area

Semi-urban, Urban

A career as a travel agent provides flourishing opportunities in locations enriching with historical heritage and monuments or vacation destinations irrespective of their geographical conditions. New Delhi, Kerala, Jaipur, and  Agra are the job hubs for travel agents in India. These cities are enriched by cultural heritage and attract a huge number of travellers every year.

Time Pressure

Likely

Individuals in travel agent careers do not face any extent of time pressure. Usually, travel agents work 8-9 hours a day and 35-40 hours a week. Sometimes, it can be stretched due to excess work and deadlines.

Overtime Details

A career as a travel agent may sometimes involve working overtime.  However, due to travel discrepancies, they might be required to work long hours.

Weekly Hours of Work

Min 35 Hours

A career as a travel agent involves a minimum of 8 to 9 working hours a day and 35-40 hours a week. Work hours may extend depending on the time pressure and deadlines. Jobs that involve travelling do not have fixed hours, it can stretch up to 10 to 12 hours a day as travelling requires time.

How to become a travel agent after 12th? or how to become a travel agent without experience? In the next section, we will discuss all the possible paths for travel agent careers. We have mentioned below the required skills needed in a career as a travel agent. 

Adventurous: When we think of travel and vacations, we think of adventure. Humans strive for adventure in their busy lives. They make time and spend money to get adventure in their life. There are travel agencies that specialise in designing such travel packages known as adventure travel or eco travel. They hire travel agents having the same interest in adventure. It is a crucial skill in the travel agent career. 

Communication Skills: Individuals in travel agent careers have to interact with so many people and clients whom they are meeting for the first time and host them. It is necessary that they bear confidence while communicating with people. They have to listen to them attentively and resolve their queries. 

Customer Service: There are times when customers ask for changes or cancel plans at the last minute or when every arrangement has been planned and taken out by the agents. In such situations, travel agents are required to tackle the situation with calmness and a friendly manner. A travel agent has to respond to their complaints and queries as well. 

An Eye for Detail: In a career as a travel agent, individuals are required to be attentive and carefully check that the arrangements they have made are as per the customer's needs. They have to make sure the reservation dates are correct, seats are confirmed, and locations to meet the customers or travellers are correct and as per schedule. 

Organising Skills: Travel agents are required to be organised as they have to meet many customers and resolve their queries and take their complaints as well. They have to interact with them in a professional manner by keeping them informed about the orders and ensuring their bills and receipts are processed. 

Business Sense: Individuals who opt for a career as a travel agent sell travelling packages with several services to customers. They must bear high persuading skills to ensure their customers that whatever they have offered to their customers is better. Most travel agents do not have permanent jobs. Their earnings depend on the commission and service fees. Therefore, it becomes an essential skill in a career as a travel agent. Read the complete article to know how to become a travel agent in India. 

We have provided below a list of travel agent certification courses. Individuals can opt for these courses to upgrade their skills to improve themselves to perform more efficiently. 

Junior Travel Agent: A Junior Travel Agent is a professional who works under the guidance of a Senior Travel Agent. A Junior Travel Agent is responsible for planning the travel details of the people that includes the accommodation, transportation and airlines.

Senior Travel Agent: A Senior Travel Agent is an experienced professional who trains and guides the Junior Travel Agents and also leads the team. A Senior Travel Agent is responsible for promoting the business and handling customer queries and complaints. A junior travel agent suggests various visas and passport information and plans and sells holiday insurance packages.  

According to the article published in Forbes, the travel and tourism industry was the most expanding sector in 2018. All the other economic sectors were after the tour and travel sector in growth. It recorded the contribution of 8.8 million dollars to the world's combined economic GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2017. 

319 million jobs were alone in the travel and tourism sector in 2017.  Now, the travel industry has been affected by the global pandemic Covid-19. It is estimated that it will result in a declining number of travel agent jobs. Nowadays, travellers rely on the internet to reserve airlines, buses, cars and hotel rooms. This has resulted in suppressing the need for travel agents.