A travel consultant will book holidays, flights and accommodation for people when they travel abroad or travel within the same country. They will advise customers on where they believe a suitable destination would be for the customer based on quickly meeting them and often first impressions. Because of this, a travel consultant must be extremely good at communicating with people to gain the necessary information to establish a suitable holiday destination. Other vital skills and qualities include:
- Good sales technique - A travel consultant is fundamentally a sales position as holiday packages are sold to customers. Selling additional extras such as holiday insurance and or extra baggage weight may also be required to meet targets.
- Excellent customer service skills - A polite and welcoming manner and a friendly and confident personality is essential for a travel consultant who needs to initially attract and welcome potential customers. Friendly, chatty people will often find it easy to converse with a customer, building a relationship that the customer trusts and is more likely to purchase a holiday from.
- Knowledgeable - A travel consultant must be able to provide on the spot information regarding a specific destination and possibly even about hotels and other travel companies such as airlines and rail travel.
- Efficient and well organized - It may be necessary to deal with many deals at once so a travel consultant must be able to multitask and remain efficient, even when they have many things going on at once.
- Interest in travel - Having passion and interest in the specific holidays which are being sold will ensure a travel consultant is successful. The customers will recognize their interest and be more inclined to purchase a holiday from someone who seems enthusiastic about a specific destination.
- Able to work under pressure - A travel consultant may need to deal with a shop full of customers eager to book their summer holiday. It is essential to stay cool under pressure and deal with each customer in a professional manner.
- Experience working within the travel industry would be a bonus. Qualifications in travel and tourism for example may be required.
