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What You Need to Know About Travel Agent

Travel Agent Job Description Plan and sell transportation and accommodations for travel agency customers. Determine destination, modes of transportation, travel dates, costs, and accommodations required. May also describe, plan, and arrange itineraries and sell tour packages. May assist in resolving clients’ travel problems.

Travel Agent Responsibilities

  • Book transportation and hotel reservations, using computer terminal or telephone.
  • Record and maintain information on clients, vendors, and travel packages.
  • Compute cost of travel and accommodations, using calculator, computer, carrier tariff books, and hotel rate books, or quote package tour’s costs.
  • Print or request transportation carrier tickets, using computer printer system or system link to travel carrier.
  • Plan, describe, arrange, and sell itinerary tour packages and promotional travel incentives offered by various travel carriers.
  • Collect payment for transportation and accommodations from customer.

What Skills Do You Need to Work as a Travel Agent?

These are the skills Travel Agents say are the most useful in their careers:

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.

Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

Types of Travel Agent

  • Destination Specialist
  • International Travel Consultant
  • Auto Travel Counselor
  • Tour Agent
  • Corporate Travel Consultant

Job Opportunities for Travel Agents

In 2016, there was an estimated number of 81,700 jobs in the United States for Travel Agent. There is little to no growth in job opportunities for Travel Agent. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 7,800 job openings in this field each year.

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The states with the most job growth for Travel Agent are Washington, Alaska, and Maryland. Watch out if you plan on working in Wisconsin, Ohio, or North Dakota. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Do Travel Agents Make A Lot Of Money?

The salary for Travel Agents ranges between about $22,370 and $66,080 a year.

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Travel Agents who work in District of Columbia, Washington, or Arizona, make the highest salaries.

How much do Travel Agents make in different U.S. states?

State Annual Mean Salary
Alabama $45,070
Alaska $42,060
Arizona $48,980
Arkansas $37,580
California $47,460
Colorado $44,750
Connecticut $48,780
Delaware $41,800
District of Columbia $56,790
Florida $41,630
Georgia $35,190
Hawaii $42,170
Idaho $38,280
Illinois $41,100
Indiana $40,640
Iowa $41,330
Kansas $45,940
Kentucky $41,470
Louisiana $38,060
Maine $34,510
Maryland $36,300
Massachusetts $49,920
Michigan $42,530
Minnesota $45,530
Mississippi $34,120
Missouri $40,100
Montana $45,810
Nebraska $41,650
Nevada $56,590
New Hampshire $44,420
New Jersey $49,330
New Mexico $40,970
New York $40,000
North Carolina $40,690
North Dakota $33,600
Ohio $36,250
Oklahoma $36,940
Oregon $38,520
Pennsylvania $42,700
Rhode Island $37,280
South Carolina $33,150
South Dakota $36,140
Tennessee $42,600
Texas $39,670
Utah $43,590
Vermont $44,000
Virginia $44,970
Washington $52,790
West Virginia $35,420
Wisconsin $37,350
Wyoming $47,440

What Tools do Travel Agents Use?

Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Travel Agents may use on a daily basis:

  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft Office
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft Access
  • Data entry software
  • Intuit QuickBooks
  • Travel Agent CMS

How to Become a Travel Agent

Education needed to be a Travel Agent:

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What work experience do I need to become a Travel Agent?

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Who Employs Travel Agents?

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Below are examples of industries where Travel Agents work:

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You May Also Be Interested In…

Those interested in being a Travel Agent may also be interested in:

References:

Image Credit: Nick Nijhuis via Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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