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Travel Agent

Tasks and duties

Travel agents:

• help people with their travel or holiday plans, including itineraries
• book accommodation, transport, tours and cruises
• issue tickets and collect payment
• perform general administration duties
• help customers with visas, passports and insurance.
Travel agents may also organise and book conferences and visit clients.

Skills and knowledge

Travel agents need to have:

• strong sales, customer service and people skills
• knowledge of other countries
• the ability to find accurate information
• time-management and planning skills
• problem-solving skills
• knowledge of airline networks and security regulations
• knowledge of passport and visa requirements, and insurance and foreign currencies
• knowledge of current affairs, including any government travel warnings
• computing and mathematical skills.

Personal qualities

As a travel agent you need to be:

• good at listening
• friendly, patient and helpful
• professional and responsible
• methodical, accurate and able to work unsupervised
• enthusiastic about your work
• able to work well under pressure
• able to work well as part of a team.

Useful experience

Useful experience for travel agents includes:
• work in the travel and tourism industry
• hospitality work
• sales and retail experience
• office work
• previous overseas travel.

Career progression

Travel agents can go into supervisory or management roles, or become self-employed. They can also move between different areas of the travel industry.