Travel Agent: Everything You Need to Know About Travel Agents

Introduction
You used to be able to get away with having no education and still be a travel agent, but that is changing, and pretty soon, unless you’ve got a college degree, you won’t be able to get the job. The most important skill you need to possess is being able to understand what it is people are looking for. Although going to Oktoberfest might be one of the greatest vacations YOU can take, you don’t want to send the stressed out recovering alcoholic there. You have to be sensitive to what people want out of their vacation, and to not push your own agenda onto them.

Job Function
As a general rule, travel agents work behind a desk in an office, though there are some who work from home. You will be expected to know the smallest details of places and events that you never really considered before, from the cheapest rental car place in Duluth, to the laws concerning public drinking in Turkey (just don’t do it). One of the perks about being a travel agent is that hotels oftentimes give you reduced rates, events that might normally not be open to you suddenly are and even sometimes you can get yourself reduced airfare: vacation becomes a very cheap thing for you to do. And it’s a good thing, because if you were helping all these people have their dream trip while you sat behind a desk all day, every day, you’d go out of your mind. Lifestyle
The hours tend to be long…it’s the one great drawback to the job. I find myself doing 70 hour work weeks sometimes. Aside from that (I know, it’s quite snag) the job is really good, though. You meet lots of interesting people, and you talk about all sorts of weird things, deep dark stuff that they probably wouldn’t tell their psychiatrist but they tell you, because they want you to make it happen.

Additional Information
The basics of being a successful travel agent: Give The People What They Want! (for example, send hippies to Amsterdam)