Expert Career Advice for New Travel Advisors

21.07.2023 - 00:14 / travelweekly.com

While veteran travel advisors with decades of experience continue to dominate the U.S. travel agency workplace, the industry is showing positive growth when it comes to new agencies and advisors, according to “The U.S. Travel Agency Landscape 2022,” a report prepared for Allianz Partners by Travel Weekly in partnership with Phocuswright. 

The study, based on an online survey of 1,356 travel advisors, confirms an increase in new entrants into the marketplace. Nearly 50 percent of respondents, for example, have worked in travel 10 years or less, compared to just 21 percent in 2019. In addition, 23 percent of traditional agencies have started within the past five years, a sizeable jump from the 10 percent reported in 2019. And eight percent of survey participants had started a new agency within the last two years, while the number of storefront agents jumped by five percent since 2021. 

The fact that new travel advisors and new agencies are entering the market seems to indicate that efforts to attract new talent are having positive results, the report concludes.  

Industry experts are also reporting growth. “There has never been a better time for new travel advisors to come into the industry,” says Jackie Friedman, president of Nexion Travel Group in Irving, Texas, who began her career in 1984 as a frontline agent. “The pandemic certainly didn’t slow the interest. If anything, consumers developed more awareness of the importance of booking with an advisor.”

How can someone new to the industry ramp up a successful career as an advisor? Here are tips from several experts. 

Jumping into a new career track requires careful planning, according to Friedman. “New advisors need to focus,” she says. “Pick something you are passionate about and will be good at selling. It may sound counterintuitive, but by narrowing your focus, you will grow your business. Strive to do more with less, not less with more. Once you get experience and build a strong client base, you can expand naturally. But don’t start as a jack of all trades. You cannot be all things to all people.”

Angie Licea, president of Global Travel Collection, a division of Internova Travel Group, emphasizes the need for new advisors to recognize their clients’ needs. “My biggest piece of advice would be to truly understand your client base and always continue to learn and adapt to meet the changing travel environment,” she says. “In this current travel environment, it is important to be nimble and look at ways to expand [your] area of expertise.”

Selling travel is a people business, so savvy social skills can go a long way. “Relationship building begins one conversation at a time,” says