Who is a Travel Agent

by - 19:52


  Can you name one cool job that “makes things happen” for the travel industry? What is one profession that has untied the bond of stress from tourist and travel businesses? Yes, you got it! That’s a travel agent! A travel agent is a retailer that liaises with tourism and travel related enterprises such as hotels, airlines, cruise lines, attraction centers, car rentals, railways and tour operators in a bid to offer exceptional services to business and leisure travelers. Those aforementioned businesses offer a commission fee for acting as brokers. Travel Agents can organize leisure and business trips which may include holiday/honeymoon packages or international business conferences. Those guys are working hard to ensure that clients are strain-free from tedious and unpleasant process of booking. That’s why they are vested with the responsibility of offering an up-to-date travel advice to clients who want to leave the borders of their home residence. 

What do they do?

I will list 6 functions that describe the travel agent’s profession:

 1. Travel Information:
As earlier stated, a travel agent provides updated information about the destination inquired. They must possess exceptional communication skills that would make the client feel at home. For a complete set of qualification, learning a foreign language is another prowess to bask in.

 2. Ticketing:
Travel agents release tickets from different transportation modes such air transport, rail transport and the likes. Such a task is barely plain sailing as the air ticket fares could fluctuate in an unpleasant manner and reasonable prices have to be set.

 3. Preparation of Itineraries:
 All modes of transportation aren’t always meant for all destinations even if there is a provision for it. That’s why the agents inform their clients for the safest and most pleasant route and mode of transportation. 

 4. Provision of Foreign currencies:
The process of getting money in another currency for your trip can be exhausting. The travel agent comes into play and saves that stress from the potential traveler.

 5. Planning and Costing Tours:
Yeah well this can be kind of tedious and at the same time fun. This is the part where your agent has to plan your trips and develop packages that are congruous with individual requirements. Packages are composed with different items of consideration such as transportation, accommodation, sightseeing, conference hall booking etc. After finalizing the arrangements, agents would still have to create awareness among interested individuals or even instill the interest on the audience being targeted.

 6. Insurance:
Insurance companies work hand in hand with travel agents to insure unwelcoming accidents or theft. Its serves as bulwark of protection and keeps the trip safe without gargantuan losses incurred.

Types of Travel Agents

1. Independent Travel Agents
Independent travel agents are the ones that customize the travel itineraries themselves for their clients in order to include tours and activities that interest them. They would highly recommended distribution technology systems. For that process, they could make 15 to 25% of profit for booking your activities

 2. Online Travel Agents
The ease of internet access has made travel agency easier to manage. Through the Redzy’s online booking system technology, they can conveniently create packages that include transportation, accommodations, excursions, tours and activities. All that through the Net.

 3. Tour Operators
Tour Operators are specialized in arranging the best tours and activities in any region. They are even the wholesalers of the business in which the sell their packages to retailers (travel agents). They are superbly qualified in recommending excursions to travel clients. 
   
4. Global Distribution Systems
Online and offline agents will utilize global distribution systems in order to automatically reserve available tours and activities in a particular destination. They guarantee easy online booking for your activities and tours. Global distribution systems, such as Amadeus, Sabre or Redzy will help you increase your online distribution and secure more bookings for your tours and activities.

Entrepreneurs in the Travel Business

 The online travel agency system has been religiously implemented in Nigeria. As a country that is consistent with IT innovations, the Internet has been a steady path for travel agents to approach the travel needs of the society. Some of the renowned companies that are pioneering in this sector are:

 WAKANOW
Source: picodi
As Nigeria’s first OTA (Online Travel Agent), Wakanow was established in 2008 and for the past 9 years, their mission is to bridge the gaps of the Travel Industry and offer cheap flight to all destination as well as accommodation, visa procurement services and different special package for honeymoon and pilgrimage program. Wakanow has grown to become one of Africa’s leading travel booking portals, with physical presence in Nigeria, UAE, Ghana, UK, US and aggressive plans to open new offices across Africa.

 TRAVELSTART
Source: travelstart
  The second biggest travel agency in Nigeria has dominated the industry in different venues of the country, such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Unite Arab Emirates, Turkey, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Qatar,Kenya and Egypt. When you get to their site and search for flights, you'll get results from all the major international airlines and low-cost carriers, neatly displayed in one table – lowest prices first of course - so that you can compare costs with ease and find that perfect ticket that works with your schedule and budget. The same goes with your hotel and rental car reservations.

 TRAVELBETA
Source: Travelbeta
  Travelbeta is one of the few travel agencies that offer promotional packages. Unlike other online travel agencies, they run promo from time to time and they don’t wait for airline promo before making their customer happy. According them, Travelbeta is the brainchild of a group of passionate professionals with backgrounds in the Hospitality, Business Services, Logistics, Finance, and Communications industries who all possess a genuine love for travel. Through its network of partners both locally and internationally, and its commitment to keeping customer s informed, Travelbeta is uniquely positioned not only to deliver exceptional value to customers, but also to offer all travelers an experience they are unlikely to get anywhere else.

 JUMIA TRAVEL
Source:qed.ng
  Former Jovago, Jumia Travel is an online travel agency that is streamlined in hotel booking, allowing you to get the best prices for more than 25,000 hotels in Africa and more than 200,000 hotels around the world. Jumia Travel’s mission is to bring every bit of available accommodation online, and to create the easiest and cheapest way for customers to book it. At Jumia Travel, there are hundreds of travel specialists constantly in touch with our customers and their offices are located in different parts of Africa and beyond!


How to start your business as a Travel agent?


  Do you like the thought of opening your own travel agency? Well, I would’t be surprised! The travel and tour agency is a fast growing business and lucrative too, especially when you follow the proper trend and procedures. So what do you have to do? Hmm..
  First of all, you need to possess superb communication skills and be a people’s person. Problem solving and the art of conviction should be your greatest resources as a professional. Next, you need to decide your target audience. If you want to be a local travel agent, then you would register and meet the legal requirements of CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission). If you want a broader audience and want to be an international travel agent, you will have to register with IATA, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that controls and regulates air travel around the world in over 275 countries, and make tight policies regarding air travel. 
   While learning the trade you could as well, pull some wealth of knowledge from other travel agents and take up some IATA courses (listed on their website) simultaneously. The start- up capital can be enormous, I must say. Getting an office space that attracts potential travelers is a hard but necessary task! And lastly, getting insurance for your business should be considered because it helps to boost your business and create a good image of your brand. And some clients would welcome it if their agents that are insured or their staffs insured for future occurrence.

Do Travel Agents Matter?

The answer is yes! Even though the travel institutions like hotels and airlines have online booking directives, travel agents are still invaluable. Why? For a number of reasons! Primarily, Travel Agents are “All Inclusive”. They ensure a comprehensive travel package with all the services a client would need. They match online prices and have rates that you don’t. Travel Agents save your time of research due to their specialized expertise. They offer priceless advice and offer affordable payment plans. So do you want to consult a travel agent the next time you have a trip? Do you want to own your own travel agency? You would be at the right place!  


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