Travel Agent Career

Job Description: Plan and sell transportation and accommodations for 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.


Is Travel Agent the right career path for you?
Take the MyMajors Quiz and find out if it fits one of your top recommended majors!

Travel Agent Career

What skills are required for Travel Agents?

Importance Skills
  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.
  Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  Mathematics - Using mathematics to solve problems.
  Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
  Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

What knowledge is needed to be a Travel Agent?

Importance Knowledge
  Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
  Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
  Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Work Styles

Importance Styles
  Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
  Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
  Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
  Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
  Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
  Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
  Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
  Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
  Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
  Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
  Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
  Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
  Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
  Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
  Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.