Gaining a Flexible Career as a Retail Travel Consultant

A career as a retail travel consultant offers lucrative income potential. One can combine the love of voyaging and interesting cultures with this flexible career option. The travel industry is generally considered a multi–billion–dollar industry. In the past few years these industry–related jobs have become too popular among all other career opportunities available, and it is also known as an ever–growing industry. Because of its flexible working hours and lucrative commissions, many consultants have already started a home–based travel business.

A retail travel consultant deals with people in arranging their leisure or personal travel trips. Most of their work needs direct communication with the customers who walk into their offices. The offices are usually centrally located to provide convenient access to the general public. The work profile of a retail travel consultant includes making airline reservations, booking hotel accommodation, bus tours, car hire, cruises, day tours, and anything that the customer needs for their holiday trip. They often provide guidance and make suggestions about travel destinations and travel packages.

According to Stephanie Karst-McGrath, Managing Director, APTC, “In travel and tourism, you need to communicate with lots of different tourists and not let small hassles get you down. You need to have very good communication skills because you are negotiating travel and accommodation deals with a lot of different hotels and companies. It is important to understand that people from different cultures place different importance on things like punctuality, food preference, tour types, and destination.”



A retail travel consultant is required to have good geographical knowledge of the world and is preferably well traveled. They are also required to have excellent communication skills to be able to provide excellent customer service, as sometimes the customers do not even have an idea where they want to go.

Most of the time a retail travel consultant needs to work in a fast-paced environment with numerous deadlines and a good degree of accuracy. It is essential to have a good memory, especially in this job, to be able to remember detailed product information about many destinations. For all those whose area of interest lies in this, it is like experiencing the fun of travel every day without leaving their job or office, along with lucrative commissions. Combined with it they also have exclusive access to discounted agent-only travel offers, and always get the best deals and benefits for their own travel adventures too. As a travel consultant, also known as a travel agent, one gets paid to recommend their favorite vacation destinations, hotels, and luxurious cruise lines to their customers.

In this people-focused industry, here are some of the qualities which are considered very important to be successful as a retail travel consultant:

• Good geographical and general knowledge.
• Completion of travel-related courses or programs.
• Language fluency.
• Good communication and listening skills.
• Good selling skills.
• Ability to create a rapport with people of different ages and different cultures.
• An outgoing personality.
• Good organizational skills.
• Good computer skills.
• Self-confidence and leadership qualities.
• An empathic attitude that encourages customers to place their trust in you.
• Good problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work in a team.
• A good memory and strong attention to detail, because a little mistake could mean a major disaster.

The most important thing in this field is that one needs to have the desire to become a travel consultant and in start their own travel agency. Starting a home-based travel agency is easy, as it does not need any big infrastructural set up and does not require any formal training. It has many options, and one can choose to specialize in whatever travel type attracts them the most, like adventure, business, honeymoon, luxury, family, etc. There are many options for candidates to train themselves for the travel and tourism industry, provided by private institutions or the government. One can study at a private training college or at a university and, in some cases, individual companies also provide on-the-job training.
There are a few essential things required before starting a travel consulting agency or travel agency, which are as follows:

• Selection of Agency/Business name
• Applying for Travel Seller’s License
• Preparation of Business Plan
• Selection of Business Partner, i.e. the host agency
• Comparison List for Better Commission
• Price List for Commission from Suppliers, Service Fees from Clients, and the Mode of Payment, etc.
  

The main scope and responsibilities of a Travel Consultant include the following:

• Describe and sell travel destinations, packages, and services to clients.
• Access information about costs, routes, and schedules from print references, computer databases, and the Internet.
• Make reservations using telephone, fax, mail, computerized systems, and the Internet.
• Issue required documentation such as electronic tickets, travel insurance policies, and itineraries.
• Notify customers about changes in travel plans and required documentation.
• Calculate and prepare invoices and accept payment from customers.
• Meet the sales targets as set up for the travel agency.
• Liaising with the tour operators and other partners such as hotels and airlines regarding bookings and schedules.
• Providing guidance to the clients about passports, vaccinations, visas, foreign currency, and excursions in resorts.
• Handing customer grievances.
• Updating knowledge on latest travel trends and locations.
• Updating IT skills or specific software used by the company, for example specific travel-booking management programs, since holiday packages and bookings information is usually accessed via a network

The average salary for a travel consultant is about $64,000. According to Alberta Wage and Salary Survey conducted in 2007, the travel consultants working part-time or full-time earned in between $15,800 to $100,800 annually. Most travel consultants work in travel agencies located in towns or cities, although in recent years a growing number work from their homes. They are often subject to time pressures and must work overtime during peak travel periods or when travel plans change. Working conditions, salaries, and travel benefits vary greatly from one employer to another. Many travel agencies have incentive plans where the salaries are based on sales productivity.