Are there any travel agens on Yahoo!Answers that can answer these questions?
I need to interview a travel agent for a school project that I’m doing. I REALLY need a travel agent to answer these questions. Thank you so much.
Q: What would you suggest to college students looking for a job as a travel agent?
Q: What directed/inspired you to become a travel agent?
Q: What are the educational requirements that you need to become a travel agent?
Q: Are there any personal requirments?
Q: Are there any downsides in being a travel agent?
Q: When traveling to a foreign country, how do you deal with the language barrier?
Related Questions and Answers
Tags: College Students, Language Barrier, Travel Yahoo
31. March 2008 at 10:36 am :
Thank you for the questions. I have been in the industry for 18 years and here are the answers to your questions.
1. Try to find a college or community college that offers courses in travel agency or in travel, that might be hard because with the changes that the airlines have against travel agents, alot of schools have closed or taken out the courses. The next best course is to maybe find a agency to do part time or internship work for to learn the industry. Problem, agencies today do not have alot of time to train but might be able to help on a limited basis.
2. What inspired me to become a travel agent, I loved booking people to different places in the world. Also, helping people get from one place to another and planning there entire trip. I also am an airline collector of airline timetables where I learned the route maps of different airlines of the world and where they flew.
3. Educational requirements, need computer skills, like with Apollo-United computer system, or SABRE- American Airlines computer or Galileo or some others. Being very eager to learn and do not learn just one thing in the travel agency, but try to learn it all. Putting limits on yourself can make it hard when you have to look for another agency for work.
4. Being a very people person, being able to listen the whining of the passengers of why they did not get there peanuts on a plane or why is the plane late.
5. Downsides, you will not make alot of money being a travel agency in the beginning, it make a couple of years. Mom and pop agencies appreciate employees but some of the perks might be there, where a big agency will have better benefits.
Be very patient with it, it will take time. Try to find a agency that is able to pay commission on top of salary, that can help with friends and family sometimes and also help learn more about different places in the world.
6. Language barrier- yes this can be a problem. Simple things to learn, language book, simple one, do not go out and buy a very expensive book, find a simple one. Words to learn in any language, HELLO, that is a must. THANK YOU, it can help alot, the last word that has always helped me ENGLISH.
Like in France, you might not have to use a sentence to say something, sometimes just saying the world helps them understand what you want. Also, when you travel to a country where a language is a barrier, if you are staying in a hotel, have the hotel brochure with you at all times. If needed, just show it to a taxi driver, because they sometimes have a map on them where he can get you to where you are going. And, do not get discouraged, in some countries it is easier to find young teenagers, most of them know english, not all the time but sometimes they do.
I hope these things help.
Thanks
Charles
31. March 2008 at 7:27 pm :
This is actually a kind of funny quetion for me:
I am currently changing career and going to the travel industry.
First of all DO NOT take any on-line courses. There are is useless. Watch for the Multiple Level Marketing (MLM) recruiting. They are telling you can sell travels and getting paid some commissions thru a website (No training) and you have to recruit other poeple and get a referral fee and so on…They are a scam. (”worldventures” is one of them)
The best way are:
Some community colleges or some private schools run by travel agencies offer travel courses.
For exemple in Los Angeles, they are only two schools (one community college the other private run by a travel agency which has been accredited by the State).
Community College course take a lot longer (up to 2 yrs) for the 120 hr requirement.
Requirement is high school diploma, but higher education is preferred. Know well world geography (big plus).
A second language is a plus, but not required at all.
Computer knowledge is pratically require since everything is computerized.
Be on-going. Be able to market and sale a product (travel of all sort are products)