Establishing yourself as a travel expert is crucial in today's competitive environment. The capacity to show your skillset not only differentiates you from the rest, but also creates trust with prospective customers.
Your knowledge and insights into the world of travel can be a significant advantage. However, it takes more than just personal experience to truly establish yourself as a travel expert.
Here are some strategies that will help enhance your credibility in the field of travel and set up your journey towards becoming a recognized authority in your chosen niche.
Pay Attention to Travel Trends
One cornerstone of a successful travel agent business lies in staying current with the latest trends within the industry. This involves not only understanding popular destinations but also recognizing emerging markets and shifts in traveler behavior.
Simply put, when you sit down with a prospective customer, it’s going to be obvious to them whether A) you’ve done your homework and B) that you know what you’re talking about. Preparation begets success, and in the travel industry, that not only means understanding the needs of your clients, but also paying attention to where the industry is headed.
If you notice that you’ve been booking a particular destination more, or that your colleagues have, it might be smart to brush up on your knowledge of that locale. Or, if you’ve noticed that a particular type of travel has seen an increase in interest—say, for instance, luxury travel— then you could explore where you might fit into that space yourself and invest in the right training to make it happen.
Follow Industry Publications
To further establish yourself as a travel expert, one of the best methods is to keep up with industry publications. These sources are packed full of useful insights about popular destinations, emerging trends in tourism, and pressing issues that could impact your clients' travels.
A great example would be Travel Weekly. This publication offers an array of information from hotel reviews to updates on cruise lines and features on new hotspots, making it an invaluable tool for travel advisors looking to stay informed. Not only is a site like Travel Weekly a great day-to-day resource to bookmark, but it also sends tons of newsletters that you can sort into a folder and check periodically. It’s a way to have multiple delivery systems for the information you’ll need to come armed to a client meeting prepared and ready to offer guidance.
Use these publications as a resource—they’re a great way to become more knowledgeable about the type of travel you sell and broaden your horizons. The knowledge gained through these publications not only enhances our understanding but also improves client communication significantly.
The more we know about current events and trends in global tourism, the better positioned we are when advising clients, whether they're busy scanning flights for their next adventure trip or meticulously planning a destination wedding ceremony. After all, you never know where inspiration might strike.
Participate in Industry Events
Becoming a fully-fledged travel agent is more than just curating unbelievable experiences. Engaging in industry events is a great way to immerse oneself fully into the travel industry and foster relationships with like-minded professionals. Just like any other industry, the relationships you develop within the travel space can go a long way toward helping you grow your business and developing a robust network.
When you attend an industry event, be open to learning and acknowledge what you don’t know. There’s no such thing as a bad question, and the information you take away can be extremely valuable and help you generate ideas for how you can continue to grow your offerings.