Becoming a travel agent truly is considered a dream job. What other job gives you the opportunity and even encourages you to travel the world, gain new experiences and share those experiences with many people? To be an effective travel agent you simply must consistently travel to destinations in order to be able to 'sell' those destinations to customers. Most travel agents concentrate on one or two parts of the world as their area of expertise and they frequently travel to these locations to learn about new adventures, hotels, activities, cultures and other things that they can add to their knowledge of a particular location.
It is possible to become self employed when you are a travel agent but most people work for a medium to large travel agency company as these companies offer the best opportunities for career advancement, travel and even benefits. Less than 15% of qualified travel agents have their own business.
Being a travel agent means never having two days of work that are the same. You will enjoy helping to plan people's vacations and seeing their joy and excitement as they learn about the destinations they will be travelling to. They will ask you many questions and expect you to have knowledge about their desired destinations, so it is therefore imperative to not only frequently travel to your chosen regions but also to stay up to date with politics, events and situations in the countries and cities that you are focused on.
Travel agents are known to get benefits such as highly discounted airfares, hotels and other expenses. This is a major reason that people are enticed to this profession.
Travel agents can focus on a certain country or a certain type of travel. For example, you may choose to become and expert in any of the following:
- USA cities for family travel
- Bird watching and wildlife
- African safaris
- Medieval history tours
- Eco-friendly tourism
- Hiking and mountain climbing
- Adventure travel
- Luxury travel
- Pacific islands
- Europe
Of course, the above is just a few small selection of possible fields of expertise. There are literally thousands more to choose from and your past experiences, interests and passion will determine what you focus on.
Having these types of choices means that more than any other job, you will never experience a dull moment working as a travel agent.
Want to learn more about travel agent careers and how to become a travel agent? Review the free articles and resources we’ve put together at http://www.careertoolkits.com
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