Travel agent
Travel agents find and book flights, accommodation and holiday packages for business and leisure customers.
Also known as: Travel consultant
- Starter salary£22,000 a year
- Experienced£34,000 a year
- Typical hours37 to 40 a week
What you'll do
As a travel agent you would:
- talk to customers to understand what they need
- help customers find a package holiday or plan independent travel
- make bookings and payments online
- advise customers about passports, insurance, visas, vaccinations, tours and vehicle hire
- inform customers of changes like cancelled flights
- arrange refunds and handle complaints
- meet sales targets and report to head office
Working environment
You could work at a store or in a contact centre.
You may need to wear a uniform.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- customer service skills
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to sell products and services
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- administration skills
- active listening skills
- persuading skills
- a desire to help people
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become a travel agent
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
College
You could do course in travel and tourism to give you some of the knowledge and skills needed for this job.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
Apprenticeship
You could apply to do a Travel Consultant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.
This takes around one year to complete, and combines work experience in a travel business with learning through a training provider.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
Work
You can start as a trainee travel agent and receive on-the-job training from your employer.
There are no set entry requirements, but a good general standard of education is expected. Some employers may ask for English and maths GCSEs or equivalent. Good geographical knowledge will also be helpful.
Career path and progression
With training and experience, there may be opportunities to progress into senior travel roles like:
- assistant manager or manager
- branch or call centre manager
- operations director
- regional director
You could also move into other careers in the travel sector, like tour operating or become self employed.
Career tips
It may help if you have customer service experience and can speak a second language.
Guides for this industry
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0