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Travel agents are people who
give advice on travel destinations and make arrangements
for transportation, tours, hotel accommodations, car
rentals, and recreation. They also advise on weather
conditions, restaurants, and tourist attractions. For
international travel, travel agents also provide
information on customs regulations, passports, visas and
currency exchange rates.
The minimum requirement for
those interested in becoming a travel agent is a high
school diploma in travel and tourism. Technology and
computerization have changed the face of tourism
industry and hence the need for specialized training in
the field has become a pre-requisite. There are enormous
courses to become travel agent. One can study it on a
full-time or a part-time basis through degree, diploma,
distance learning and online courses. There a few
colleges that offers a master’s degree in travel and
tourism courses. Courses in accounting and business
management also are important, especially for those who
expect to manage or start their own travel agencies.
There are a lot of nationally recognized online travel
agent courses and training programs that prepare
students for the Institute of Certified Travel Agents
TAP Certification. Lot of online certificate programs
are offered in partnership with major travel related
colleges and universities.
Free travel agent online courses are also provided for
those who wish to become a home based travel agent.
These offer basic guidelines and advices for a person
who wished to become a travel agent. Working at home in
ones own home-based travel agency is one of the most
exciting business opportunities available to the
home-based entrepreneur. It can be done full-time,
part-time, on a regular basis or just occasionally. The
flexibility is what drives people to run a home based
travel agency.
Keeping oneself
continuously educated is very important in this field
because of the abundance of travel information readily
available through the Internet and other sources. This
has resulted in a more informed consumer who wants to
deal with an expert when choosing a travel agent.
Experienced travel agents usually take up group-study
courses from the Travel Institute, leading to the
Certified Travel Counselor designation.
The Travel
Institute also offers marketing and sales skills
development programs and destination specialist
programs, which provide detailed knowledge of regions
such as North America, Western Europe, the Caribbean,
and the Pacific Rim. With the trend in education tilting
towards niche specialization, these types of courses are
increasingly important. Agents who specialize in
business travel have to work quickly and efficiently
because business travel needs arrangement on short
notice. As the Internet has become an important tool for
making travel arrangements, more travel agencies are
using websites to provide their services to clients. One
can also chose to become a travel writer for agents who
have good writing skills.
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