Choose a reliable and sensible Travel Agent for your Golden Holidays.

Tourism Regarded  as  an  economic  and  social  activity,  tourism  represents,  through  its  content and role, a distinct field of activity, a highly important component of the economic and social life in a growing number of countries. Travel business is a complex concept as the industry includes many activities, which together produce the tourist product that is travel experience. It is also complex due to various sub-sectors  of  the  tourist  products. Tourism  is  a  single  industry  but  it  is  made  of  different industries  such  as  hotel,  airlines,  travel  agency,  trekking  agency  etc.

Tourism is a specific phenomenon in modern civilization and it is deeply rooted in the life  of  the  society  and,  as  such,  it  has  influenced its  evolution.  Thus,  being  responsive to  the  dynamic  changes  in  contemporary  civilization, tourism  evolves  under  their impact, joining the general process of development. The  tourism  and  hospitality  industry  is  currently  one  of  the  most  important  industries worldwide.  The  Alba  County  takes  full  advantage  of highly  favorable  and  more  than adequate conditions for the development of different forms of tourism. A  fortunate  day  came  in  the  history of  travel  trade  when  in  1841,  Thomas  Cook  as secretary  of  the  South  Midland  Temperance  Association,  organized  a  trip  by  train  for  570 members of his association to a distance of 22 miles. He bought railway tickets in bulk to sell them  back  to  the  people.  The  experiment  was  successful  and  everybody  was  exultant. Initially Cook had done his job on a no profit basis. But, incidentally, it gave him a new idea and he turned it into a tour business. Four years later, in 1845, he set up the ‘World’s First Travel  Agency’ to organize excursions. Due to this innovative approach, Thomas Cook is known  as  the  Father  of  the  Travel  Agency  Business.  He  coordinated  railway  and  steamship excursions  throughout  England,  Scotland  and  Europe. Travel business is an economic activity, which is related with continuous and regular buying and  selling  of  travel  related  services  for  satisfying  human  wants. Travel  industry  has  been agreed   as   a   service   industry.   In   tourism,   service   is  anything   which   is   provided   to the traveler to travel, stay and involve in tourism activity. Travel has fascinated human beings throughout  the  ages.  During  the  past  time  travel  was  there but  ‘tourism’  was  not  there. Because  travel  was  not  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  pleasure  and  their  motive  was  not  to seek  holiday  from  the  daily  routine  works.  When  people  learned  to  differentiate  between work and leisure then tourism started. When business agencies were developed to sale travel related services then tourism industry started and travel business flourished. Travel agents help their clients make travel plans. In addition to booking reservations, they assist customers in choosing their destination, transportation, and lodging and inform travelers of passport and visa requirements, rates of currency exchange, and import duties. Wholesale travel agents specialize in organizing tours and then selling them to retail travel agencies who in turn, sell on to travelers. Many tours also include optional side trips and activities that have to be planned carefully. Wholesale  travel agents must have good marketing skills to interest retail travel agents in the tours they have developed. Retail travel agents offer advice to the general public. They provide travelers with timetables and travel literature, compute fare costs and make reservations, and sell tours developed by the wholesale travel organizations. In large travel agencies, agents may specialize in specific geographic areas; in smaller agencies, travel agents have a broader range of  responsibilities.

This job is all about the customer and helping to find and organize their dream holiday, so travel agents need to have finely tuned customer service skills, a passion for the travel industry and a friendly, approachable manner.

Arranging flights, insurance and accommodation 

Using a booking system to secure holidays 

Collecting and processing payments

Advising clients on travel arrangements, e.g. visas and passports

Sending out tickets to clients

Keeping clients up to date with any changes

Dealing with complaints or refunds (not one of the perks, but someone’s got to do it)

Skills and qualities

Passionate interest in geography, strong domestic and international travel knowledge.

Excellent command of both written and spoken English.

Strong numeric skills.

Ability to multitask and quickly interpret complex information.

Ability to build strong relationships with clients, both over the phone and face to face.

Skills to persuade customers and influence their decisions, both for their own benefit and that of the agency.

Exceptionally high levels of motivation, working both independently and as part of a team.

Smart appearance.

Proficient internet research skills for customer information.

Ability to work in a target-based environment and to achieve sales goals and objectives.

Ability to assimilate information and to pay close attention to accuracy and detail.

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