Continuous training is a must for every travel agent desiring to be successful in the travel industry. To believe otherwise is just plain ridiculous. Training is mandatory, whether you are just starting out as a travel agent, full or part time, or you are a 30 year veteran. Today's travel professional is expected to know something about the kind of travel they are attempting to sell to their clients. The more you know, the better chance you have of booking and maintaining that client. The face of the travel agent is rapidly changing. Are you going to have what it takes and the knowledge to be successful?
Training and education are plentiful these days. It runs the gamut from learning about an individual vendor or supplier to the more sophisticated courses offered by such 3rd parties as Career Quest, Kelly Monaghan and Tom & Joanie Ogg. The important thing to remember is that there is no such thing as the travel agent with all the answers. That is why, in today's world, you must specialize. Whatever your specialty, you will never be successful until you know every aspect of that niche and continue to keep abreast by taking courses as they become available.
Coral Sands Travel/World Cruising Society, along with our consortium, the NEST would be the first place to go for continuous training and education. Going beyond your affiliation with your Host Agency or if you are an independent agent without affiliations, here are my recommendations.
Most new or experienced travel agents don't realize the benefits of participating in or taking advantage of many of the industry training sites, FAMS or virtual/live conferences and trade shows. While your online training is usually more economical you are not going to get the interaction of a live event. You can find much of it for free while others will ask for a nominal fee or larger amount if it's a full course of subjects.
The virtual online conferences and trade shows, for the most part, have solved the financial problem of attending a national type conference. The conferences are free and you can attend the activities at your own leisure as the show is recorded. The virtual shows are here to stay and I'm sure they will get even better as the technology improves.
The following organizations as well as most of the mainstream media and suppliers offer training in various forms. Here are a few of my favorites.
CRUISES:
The obvious first choice is CLIA, www.cruising.org. CLIA has many of the online courses, regional and national seminars, Seminars at Sea, videos, printed matter and just about everything you need in cruise training. CLIA also offers the various designations such as ACC, MCC and ECC which are a must to obtain if you want to specialize in cruises. YouI should your obtain their Photo ID card through Coral Sands Travel or your own Host Agency for easier acceptance to the FAMs or Seminars at Sea.
Seminars at Sea conducted by Cruise and Travel University would be the best and most serious of the many organizations, outside CLIA, that do provide cruise training as well as an all around training program.
What is unique about Cruise and Travel University's agendas (www.cruiseandtraveluniversity.com) at sea is they also have well known industry instructors as well as other training topics other than just cruises. All of their training programs have been developed with the assistance of industry leading trainer Dr. Marc Mancini. Cruise and Travel University also offers an exclusive curriculum that guarantees there will be an instructor and classes on every Seminar at Sea no matter how many agents attend. I don't believe anyone else provides this guarantee.
I would recommend Platinum Seminars located at www.platinumseminars.com for the upscale seller of cruises. They offer seminars on such ships as WindStar, Regent, Crystal and Oceania as well as the usual RCL and NCL style ships.
Don't just go on any Seminar at Sea sponsored by an organization as sometimes the training is just not good and sometimes even non-existent. Those who try and sell many of these seminars are really just in the business of selling reduced price cruises to travel agents. It pays to check out who is presenting your seminar; who may be the instructor and what is the subject matter.
Of course, all of the cruise lines themselves have some great training for their product and itineraries. Princess courses are really great and you can eventually meet Gavin McCloud, the original "Love Boat" captain remembered best by your grandparents from the 70's TV show.
HOTELS and RESORTS:
All of the major resorts such as Disney, Universal, Sandals, SuperClubs, ClubMed, etc have excellent training courses about their products. Disney of course, is the most comprehensive. Both Marriott and Starwood Pro offer agents excellent training along with reward programs.
The best hotel course online is Marriott Hotel's "Hotel Excellence" course. Unfortunately, you must possess the IATAN photo ID card.
LAND DESTINATIONS:
The Travel Institute is the guru of land destination training. They like CLIA, have the most extensive collection of training tools, including many "niche" or specialty courses available in one place. Contact them at www.thetravelinstitute.org. They also have their designations such as the CTA and CTC, a must for the professional travel agent.
INDIVIDUAL SUPPLIERS:
Yes, all mainstream suppliers have product training courses and webinars available either directly or through your favorite organization and the travel media online websites. You can't possibly take all these courses. I would recommend you take those that apply to your own "niche."
Media publications, destination tourist boards and travel agent organizations also offer excellent product and destination courses and they are all generally free. Keep in mind that you don't need to join any travel agent organization to receive training, education and FAMS. Most of it is all free or at nominal prices.
If I was entering the travel industry for the first time my training and education agenda may look like the following:
Coral Sands Travel/World Cruising Society or your own Host Agency would be the first place for training as mentioned above.
1) Joining CLIA as an associate member or full member if you are not Host affiliated.
2) Joining the Travel Institute
3) Take the Marriott "Hotel Excellence" course as it can cover most hotels even if you don't have an IATAN card.
4) Take the Disney course, "College of Knowledge".
I mention items 1 through 4 above because you need access to cruise and major land products because they are musts in the travel business.
5) Attend Cruise and Travel University because of the wide spectrum of cruise, land and self improvement courses.
6) Join the websites of those suppliers, etc that will provide the training for your specialty.
7) Join a travel agent community forum such as the Home Based Travel Agent Network and Agent Nation; one of the newer forums that is just for the travel agent. www.agentnation.com
8) Subscribe to online and printed publications such as Travel Trade, Travel Weekly Central, Travel Pulse, Recommend and TRO. It's important you also keep up with industry news.
Please don't forget the comprehensive courses offered by Career Quests. It's well worth the investment with their very intensive array of travel agent courses. There are also books and articles written by Kelly Monaghan and Joanie and Tom Ogg.
I would recommend you clipping this article for future reference. Also visit www.americashostagency.com for additional information.
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