Job Description of a Travel Agent

A travel agent is an individual involved in arrangements of tours, travel, reservations, and purchases of tour packages (Prayag et al., 2017). He/she is expected to have an understanding of the technicalities of flights and the processes involved in making or canceling hotel and flight bookings. Most travel agents are employed by a travel agency although there are those who act independently as freelancers and get paid through commissions. Travel agencies have a range of destinations and deals with diverse customers. However, there are travel agencies that only deal with business individuals and have a predetermined price and destinations for their clients (Prayag et al., 2017). This job description is for a leisure travel agent, and hence the individual who chooses this kind of a job should be ambitious focused and love traveling. Generally, this description is meant to attract individuals who value good customer relations, a highly regarded time manager and have skills in the travel industry. Marketing skills are an added advantage.

Duties and responsibilities

Marketing travel products as well as providing guidance and advice to clients and agents on the best-recommended products.

Offering a vast and reliable knowledge on cruise mix of products and other related commodities.

Complete reservations and bookings; advice news customers on the documents required.

Act as a promising agent for the travel businesses, especially the new ones.

Meet the client’s needs and help them to make the right decisions concerning their goals by guiding them on the mode of travel, location, and the best value.

· Arrange all the travel requirements including making reservations, receiving money and proc[G1] essing the collected documents.[G2]

Understanding the technicalities of holiday insurance and be able to market and sell it.

Handling and solving any problems experienced by the customers within the required timeframe.

Responsible for maintaining the client’s records and ensure they are up-to-date.

Maintaining the existing clients’ relationships and building new ones.

Dealing with families and groups, small or big.

Observing the company’s procedures as per customer’s booking services, mode of documentation, and issuance of insurance, price, and invoice.

Performing other travel-related business[G3] es including using online reservation websites and systems.

Participating in projects in new and remote areas.

Qualifications

High proficiency in English, both written and oral.

A university degree or academic certificate on tourism, and hospitality or any related courses.

Certification in agencies and associations like lifestyle specialist, destination specialist, certified travel industry executive, master cruise counselor, cruise lines international association, and so on.

A Vast knowledge of travel matters including cruise lines.

Have strong sales and marketing skills as well as customer relations.

Understand and be able to apply cruise products, procedures and policing.

Have excellent communications skills and the ability to make critical decisions to solve customer problems.

Be prepared to work independently and unsupervised in completing projects.

Computer skills including advanced knowledge in Microsoft Office.

Be able to do basic mathematics like calculation of percentages.

Time management skills and ability to work during odd hours.

Benefits

401(K) plan

Health insurance

Paid time-off

How I Determined the Duties and Responsibilities

The preparation of this job description was primarily based on the client’s needs and requirements. Questionnaires were applied that involved some clients describing the things they wish their agent would be able to do. The clients' views on what they expect from travel agents were taken into consideration. The requirements and qualifications are based on travel regulations, skills required to perform the given duties and general necessities of the travel industry. Travel regulations applied are; airline reporting corporation as well as the international association of travel agency network (Schickman, and Yonahara, 2012). Although no specific law was used, The California Employment Law Letter was used to give guidance on the job formulation.

References

Prayag, G., Hosany, S., Muskat, B., & Del Chiappa, G. (2017). Understanding the relationships between tourists' emotional experiences, perceived the overall image, satisfaction, and intention to recommend. Journal of Travel Research, 56(1), 41-54.

Schickman. I.M, and Yonahara S.C. (2012). The California Employment Law Letter (CELL). Retrieved from https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2012/02/15/5-critical-components-every-job-description-must-contain/

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