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A Typical Day Sharon Cooper, the travel agent I shadowed rarely sees clients in person. Instead, she does lots of research and bookings over the phone and online. However, everyday she meets with a lot of suppliers (hoteliers, airlines, tours…) that give updates on their products. |
Top 3 Perks 1) Interaction with colleagues2) Meeting interesting suppliers from around the world3) Discounts and deals for travel agents (especially cruises) |
Job Culture Indoors, using a computer, lots of phone calls, cyclical business, research, sitting, emailing, problem solving |
My ExperienceI spent some time with Sharon Cooper who is part of Vision 2000 Travel Group and is an experienced travel agent with an interesting cliental. She has travelled nearly everywhere and her clients are just as adventurous as her. When she was younger she was really interested in geography and actually wanted to become a teacher. However, she became a travel agent, loves it, and is amazing at what she does. She deals with clients all day over the phone and tries to plan their trips effectively. Surprisingly, she talks to most of her clients over the phone and not in person, but I guess that is due to a non-storefront location. In fact, she has known some clients over 20-30 years and never met them face-to-face. Her clients really trust her because she has a lot of credibility. She travels all the time, she isn’t just reading guidebooks, and her clients usually follow by going to the same destinations. I was fortunate to sit in on a meeting with a client and a meeting with a supplier. Although face-to-face meetings with clients are rare it happens around once or twice a week. Sharon grabbed a map and first started the meeting by giving a small geography lesson of the region the client wanted to go to. She then qualified the client by asking what the expectations and needs are for this trip. Are you going for culture? Golf? Beaches?…. Once she understood the clients needs she then made recommendations on cities to visit and activities to do. I was really amazed by the extensive knowledge Sharon has, I wouldn’t want to play her in a game of Geography. After outlining dates and giving possible trip configurations the client was happy. After that meeting we met with a Parisian hotel representative who showed us recent renovations of a high-end hotel in Paris. Supplier representatives usually come in everyday to her office, which is a fun break during the day. Cool Fact: The craziest trip Sharon planned was exactly 365 days for two clients who went around the world. Popular Trips: Croatia, Mediterranean cruises, and safaris in Africa.
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Requirements 1) Degree from a community college2) Pass an examTIP: Travel experience helps a lot! |
Skills Needed Listening, understanding needs, communication, people skills, computer, multi tasking, math, research, organizational and planning, |
The Field - Technology has really helped out and made the industry faster- Travel agents don’t get the same discounts and deals they used to get- Although Expedia and other online travel tools originally hurt the industry many people are fed up with the poor service and are using travel agents again |
