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For a long time now, I felt that in the back of my head, that being a travel agent could really be an ideal career for me, however, I had this sense that they are a dying breed due to the internet making it easy to plan trips.
I love really getting to know other cities, I love doing intense research on how to make the most of spending a couple days in this location or that location(on a budget as well) (and I'm not even talking about exotic or international place, I'm just talking about domestic) and then sharing my experience with others and encouraging them to check out the place with a suggested itinerary.
I've been an adjunct geography community college instructor for the last 5 years, and although I like it enough, my students like me, and the staff/faculty do to, I just kind of fell into it after grad school. I feel more and more pulled to the private sector. Money is part of it sure, (I do quite well for an adjunct instructor) but the simplicity (I'm not saying easy!) of having actual clients attracts me more and more, from the complexities of student-teacher or faculty-faculty professional relationships.
So, can any of you shed light on this. Are travel agents really a dying breed, is is not worth it? And if I have the skills necessary, is there something else that is similar in todays changing world?
For a long time now, I felt that in the back of my head, that being a travel agent could really be an ideal career for me, however, I had this sense that they are a dying breed due to the internet making it easy to plan trips.
I love really getting to know other cities, I love doing intense research on how to make the most of spending a couple days in this location or that location(on a budget as well) (and I'm not even talking about exotic or international place, I'm just talking about domestic) and then sharing my experience with others and encouraging them to check out the place with a suggested itinerary.
I've been an adjunct geography community college instructor for the last 5 years, and although I like it enough, my students like me, and the staff/faculty do to, I just kind of fell into it after grad school. I feel more and more pulled to the private sector. Money is part of it sure, (I do quite well for an adjunct instructor) but the simplicity (I'm not saying easy!) of having actual clients attracts me more and more, from the complexities of student-teacher or faculty-faculty professional relationships.
So, can any of you shed light on this. Are travel agents really a dying breed, is is not worth it? And if I have the skills necessary, is there something else that is similar in todays changing world?
I think that there are still PLENTY of people who use travel agents for a myriad of reasons. Not the least of which making reservations yourself - even over the internet - can be fraught with having to deal with ineptitude and incompetence. When you are sitting in a lobby in BFE and there is *no reservation* for you (even though you made that very reservation online more than 30 days ago), it is nice to be able to call someone who can "handle the problem" for you rather than spending 3 hours on your cell phone trying to figure out what the problem is.
This is just one small example.
As for careers similar to travel agents, you might consider being a tour operator. This is a person who puts bus tours (and other types of tours) together for groups of people. If you live in an area with some tourism, you could also act as a "receptive operator" for tour operators who wish to bring tour groups to your area.
Having lived in Branson for many years, I can tell you that the travel and tourism business is still booming and it's a great business to be in.
When I went to school for my degree-hospitality and tourism management-we had a local travel agent who was very well known come in and some of class did internships there. Fast forward 10 years-he's out of business-yet prior to the internet boom-he was doing a booking business.
Most travel agents start as outside agents-selling to friends and family-or co workers else where. It takes a while to build a following and to even get your foot into a agency-if they are still around. Most of the ones here are now gone.
A lot of people-myself included-have gotten good a booking our own things. I don't use the computer-except to look up properties-and call directly to book and negotiate my room rates(you can most always get cheaper than the rack rates that are quoted) and then tack on my AAA.
Some have done well with the cruise line industry to book cruises. I'd check into that, but travel agencies as we knew them are a dying breed at least where we live-90 miles north of NYC.
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The internet did make travel agents a dying breed, as witnesses by the dozen or more that have closed in Bellevue, WA, a rather upscale city over the last 10 years. I haven't used on since about 1996.
The owner of a local company recently was indicted for fraud, he ran a school for travel agents and advertised a great placement rate, and the attorney general got many complaints that after they paid all that money they couldn't even find agencies to apply to.
There are a few resources out there for how to start your own home-based travel agency.
I will look into it more for the summer, when I am teaching summer classes (more time on my hands than the rest of the year). I'm not going to stop teaching anytime soon, but while I do like and do my best at it, I don't feel the commitment necessary for the long haul.
What other types of jobs can you think of, where the personality and skills of a travel agent or tour operator can be applied?
I'm also looking into the textbook publishing industry to be a traveling textbook salesperson as a possible career transition.
There is a little thrill, I think, to do something commission based (like selling travel or textbooks), as long as what you are selling is of interest to you. I'm not afraid of cold calls. I actually have done that eons ago, when I first graduated college, but I was selling things I didn't really believe in.
The problem with me teaching, as that although I am likable, interesting, and approachable by both students and faculty, the fact is that I believe in "the bell curve of success." And I plan my teaching around that, and I don't think thats the attitude that is appropriate.
You don't want to inflate grades and make the course easy, but you can't have students failing either.
So, partially it is money, but partially it is a thrill of the sale of something you care about.
From what I hear a travel agnet hiw has to add a fee for making airline ticket puchases thru them making a ticket more expensive than thru the airline itself. That is what we found for a few years now.That si a big revenue loss;I would think.They are more or less a middle man and slowly being eliminated especailly when people with computers can do it themselves i mnay cases.
Travel agents are not just a dying breed... they are dead and buried.
Trying to start a career in 2011 as a travel agent is like trying to start a store in 2011 that specializes in selling film for amateur camera buffs.
That era has passed.
Look elsewhere for a career.
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