The main responsibility of a travel advisor is to make the process of traveling – whether for work or pleasure – a stress-free, easy and positive experience. While a travel advisor performs some of the same functions as a reservation sales advisor at an airline, hotel, cruise, or car rental company, their additional expertise brings further value to the consumer that goes well beyond the transaction process.
Travel advisors are professionals that add value to the consumer … before, during and after the booking is made and the trip is taken. Perhaps the most critical aspects of the job are the relationships and the trust that travel advisors develop with their customers. Travel advisors must provide personalized, knowledgeable service to each of their clients. They should understand their customers and recognize their travel needs.
Travelers appreciate the reliability and attention to detail a travel advisor brings to the whole travel experience or the travel value chain:
- The Dream – The Traveler’s wants, desires, needs, motivating factors, friends, values, social media destination influence
- Travel Research – Where to go, how to get there, options, social media, costs, etc.
- Travel Planning – Options for air, car, hotel, cruise, or other modes of travel
- Booking – Purchase, documentation
- Fulfilling – The travel itself: the journey
- Sharing – Post-trip reviews and discussions via social media, with friends and family, etc.
ASTA’s mottos, “Without a Travel Advisor, You’re on Your Own®,” and “We’ll Take You There”, exemplify the important role professional travel advisors play during the entire travel value chain.
Over time, the travel advisor’s job has evolved to reflect the changes and complexities within the travel industry as well as the way people purchase travel. The expansion of the Internet and social media has enabled consumers to be far more educated and savvier about purchasing travel than a decade ago. But too many options can be confusing, overwhelming and time-consuming to the traveler in need of expert advice. Many buyers suffer from information overload from the millions of options available online – and it is the travel professional’s job to help them cut through the noise and clutter using their expertise to create the perfect travel experience.