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- Sell and arrange travel and holidays for individuals or businesses
- You could be based in a branch or in an office or call centre
- There may be opportunities to travel and to progress into management roles
You might specialise in the business travel sector, where you'll deal with documents, ticketing, vehicle hire and accommodation.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Use your knowledge and creativity to help customers find a suitable package holiday or to plan independent travel
- Make bookings using a computer system
- Collect payments
- Inform customers of any changes such as cancelled flights
- Advise customers about passports, travel insurance, visas, vaccinations and tours
- Arrange refunds and handling complaints
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You'll usually be provided with a uniform and you could be based in a travel agency branch or contact centre. Your employer might arrange short visits to resorts to improve your knowledge of the holidays that you're organising and selling.
Travel agents often get commission based on meeting performance targets, and may also get discounts on holidays and other travel.
You'll need
There are no specific entry requirements, but it will help if you have a love for travel and you'll need excellent customer service skills, strong communication skills and a good telephone manner, the ability to cope with pressure at busy times, and sales skills, both face-to-face and over the telephone.
College or university courses in travel and tourism like a Level 3 Diploma in Travel and Tourism can help you prepare for this job, or you could do a travel consultant advanced apprenticeship. However, it's common to find work with a travel agency and then train on the job.
Experience in customer service, sales, or foreign language skills could also be useful.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With training and experience, there may be opportunities to progress into senior roles like branch or call centre manager, operations director, regional director or managing director. You could also move into other roles in the travel sector, like tour operating, or digital and legal services.