by Amy Huang

Created on: October 25, 2008

As much as travel agents are a specialised professional, there isn't any real, standard qualifications required to become one, as each different agencies will request for different forms of skills and experience from their employees. There is however one ultimate characteristic you must possess to be a successful travel agent: a passion for travel and the world.

Travel agent is not a profession to be taken lightly. Besides sales and customer service, the agent has tremendous responsibility towards those they send on holidays. A duty of care requires a travel agent to instinctively notify their clients about visa and passport requirements, at least to check that the travellers have contacted relevant embassies to acquire the correct form of entry into certain countries. They have to ensure that all times changes with airlines or insolvency of a service provider are communicated to their clients promptly and arrange alternatives if it affects their trip. Most of all, a travel agent have the duty to ensure that their clients enjoy their holiday to the best of their abilities.

Therefore, travel agent is not a job any casual job seeker can take on, so most agencies will either, require someone with previous experience, or have a complete training program for successful candidates.

Planning a career in travel agencies will hence require dedication and determination. For inexperienced people looking for a job in the field, the first choice is to find a travel agency that will train their staff from the ground up. Not only will they require sales and customer service skills training, there are many systems and applications to learn as part of the job: How to book airline tickets, how to deal with cancellations, how to put together packages, who to contact for which hotels and car hires and to memorise all common airline and city codes. Most of the skills can be acquired on the job, but the hard thing is trying to get your foot in the position first.

Should you be unsuccessful in gaining employment with an agency that trains their staff, perhaps some pre-learning will help future prospects. Specialty colleagues can help you with sales and customer skills, as well as selected classes in airline system training. Although learning this way does not put you in a real life situation, but at least can equip you with the background skills to apply to your new job on your first day.

Another tip to make an impression is to keep up with the travel industry news. Which airline flies where? Which hotel chain just opened up their new resort in Phuket? Travel agents needs to be updated daily on these news to enable them to pass onto clients, so by keeping in touch with the latest, you are showing an initiative towards a new career.

Most of all, be willing to learn. Being a travel agent is an extremely stressful job and definitely not fit for someone just wanting temporary work. It does take at least 4-6 months to ease into the swing of things, so determination goes a long way.

And how do I know this? I am a travel agent.

Learn more about this author, Amy Huang.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.