Many people are fascinated by the career of the travel agent, especially for the advantages it guarantees: discounts on accommodation and transport and many opportunities to see the world. A travel agent gives advice, creates packages, makes reservations and organizes every detail for their clients. To excel, in addition to having the classic training, you will need to be able to interact with others and specialize in a particular type of itinerary.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Education and Training
Step 1. First, you should have a high school diploma and know how to use computers
Step 2. Take a travel planning course
It will allow you to become familiar with the booking system, with travel regulations (both national and international) and with marketing.
Step 3. If you are about to enroll at university, opt for a faculty such as Tourism Sciences, available in many Italian universities
Have you already graduated? You can always do a master's degree.
- If you plan to open an agency, you will also need to take economics classes.
- Get the license to open it. The authorization is issued by the provinces. Ask your local office to find out which documents are required. Some laws vary from region to region. There are three types of licenses: A, which is used by tour operators, ie those who develop travel packages; B, for agencies that sell retail services as intermediaries; A + B, useful for agencies wishing to take care of both activities.
Step 4. In addition to university careers, there are training courses for those who intend to work in the tourism sector
Search the internet to find the one closest to you.
Method 2 of 3: Skills and Know-how
Step 1. Develop your personality
You will need to look like a person of the world, confident and capable of networking. Wherever you work, you will need to convince customers that you are able to offer them the best holidays possible.
- Be adventurous and prepared to discover exotic locations.
- Work on your communication skills. When you're not around the globe, you'll be sitting behind a desk, answering emails and the phone, and dealing with customers.
- Dwell on the details. Each person has a different idea of a holiday, therefore based on the standards of each individual customer.
- Organized. You will have to deal with dozens of itineraries simultaneously. Meeting deadlines is imperative to be successful in this industry.
- Create connections to have more and more customers. Be a point of reference for travel arrangements within your community. Networking never stops, not even when you are with your family or friends.
Step 2. Travel a lot
You can't sell a product you don't know. Put yourself in the customer's shoes and gain travel experience to predict possible problems.
- Being able to dispense first-hand information is invaluable. Customers are more interested in suggestions from experience with various services, accommodations and geographies. And that's also why travel agents get so many discounts when they travel.
- Knowing a foreign language (or two) is undoubtedly useful!
Step 3. Before starting your career, get to know the market
In Italy there are about 10,000 travel agencies, which employ approximately 30,000 people
Step 4. Specialize in certain destinations or certain activities
Are you an expert on the Istanbul markets? Do you love cracking coconuts in the Mekong Delta? Choose a region of your interest.
You can specialize in a country, cruises, group tours, luxury travel, low cost vacations, hobby-based group travel or travel based on special interests or certain lifestyles, such as those for seniors or for vegetarians
Step 5. Choose your work environment
The number of self-employed agents is increasing rapidly. Decide whether to work as an employee of a company or as a guest of a company. There are several types of agencies:
- Intermediary agencies or retailers, offering goods and services provided by other businesses. In practice, they only deal with aspects such as ticket sales and hotel reservations.
- Franchise agencies, affiliated to a central office, which directs them and indicates to agents how they should be managed. In short, they take care of everything, from furnishing the agency to training employees.
- Networking agencies, which differ from those in franchising for their autonomy, since they have their own license and a technical director (to become a technical director you have to pass a state exam and enroll in the register).
- Individual agencies, managed by a technical director, who organizes contacts with service providers.
- Corresponding agencies, which are often organizations located in various countries that work in synergy.
Method 3 of 3: Get to Work
Step 1. Apply to work in a travel agency
Starting as a receptionist or assistant can lead you to greater responsibilities and opportunities.
Don't be afraid to start low. Some companies, such as Virtuoso, a worldwide network of travel agencies, recommend 20 years of experience before you can start working with them
Step 2. Whether you work from home or in an office, network
Getting noticed is the only way to get customers. Do research and make offers.
Create a consulting service with other agents, each specialized in a type of travel
Step 3. Join an organization to observe other professionals and imitate them if they are more experienced than you
To find support, job and networking offers, resources, travel tools, access to publications, evaluation services, invitations to seminars and exhibitions and information on courses, follow the page www.fareturismo.it and those of Federturismo Confindustria, Confturismo, Assoturismo, Federviaggio and Fiavet.
