Leaving the NHS to be a travel agent - advice please

[sparklegem]

I'm looking for some careers advice and would be grateful if I could tap into your wisdom 😃

I have been a qualified nurse for 7 years and before that I worked as a healthcare assistant. Long story short, I've had it with the NHS and nursing for many reasons and I've been looking for a career change for a while now.

So it's recently dawned on me that I love researching and planning holidays for my family, and I'm really enthusiastic about helping friends out when they are asking for information about potential holiday destinations. I think I would love being a travel agent!

I know the pay isn't brilliant but my OH earns a very good wage and I'm at the point now where I'm more interested in doing something I enjoy rather than something that might pay a bit better but is not enjoyable to me.

I've no idea how to go about any of this and a bit of googling has not really helped improve my knowledge. If there are any travel agents that could offer any advice or information about how to get into the industry or help with any other knowledge, I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance.

[duchy]

Most travel agents would be looking for you to have qualified at NVQ level 2 in travel and tourism nowadays.

Travel agency work nowadays is more about reaching sales targets than a travel consultant role the way it was in the good old days. With so many fewer high street agents around there's not an awful lot of entry level positions and would definitely be at NMW and include Saturday (and Sunday in some locations) working.

[ChoppyGirl]

What about being a Travel Councillor where you work from home?

[anji]

I looked at Travel Counsellors. They are independent people but unless you have travel agency experience it costs £10,000 to be trained etc! If you can afford it, it does look interesting

[duchy]

I think if you are considering investing £10K (plus your time and set up costs like equipment and running costs like IT, comms etc) you need to carefully consider your return for your money. Think about how you , your family and friends book holidays. Would they book over the phone with a travel counsellor or would they DIY it or prefer a high street location.

As an already experienced travel agent of many years with the offer of "training" at no cost it didn't add up financially for me or for my colleagues who gave it a go. This was a few years ago and I'd imagine it's even harder now with more homeworkers out there and more people aware of the possibilities of DIY.

It's not impossible to make a good living from it but there are probably far easier and less risky ways to do it.

[Guest]

I have a friend who works for a travel agent. She gained an HND in travel and tourism before starting out in the business.

The agency has a good website as well as a shop and many customers return year after year, simply because the agency staff add the personal touch that seems to be lacking when people book holidays directly.

My friend tells me stories of people booking to the wrong airports, specifying the wrong dates and being fleeced by non registered or fictitious tour companies. Stories of being drawn in by cheap offers that don't exist are rife.

Agency staff work hard for their money and rely on commission to a degree. They have to take a certain amount of flak from some customers who try for a refund as a matter of course!

They get 'study trips' occasionally when holiday firms host visits to resorts in order to publicise their offerings.

[daytonababe]

I see this a lot on various holiday pages but these days there are less TAs than ever on the high street and far more people booking holidays themselves , so is it really that secure and profitable .

I'm sure doing it for a living is far harder than looking at holidays for fun .

[katiec68]

Back in 1998 I went to college - night school - and did my TA qualifications while I was working full time for Chrysler Jeep.

When I got made redundant in 2000 I went into travel - went from a £16K salary to an £8k salary.

When i separated from DH I then had to go back and find a "proper" job to pay the mortgage.

Id go back to being a TA in a heartbeat but my husband would need to double his salary if we wanted to keep the lifestyle we have - and that aint gonna happen

I dont think either of us would be prepared to give up our current lifestyle. (Besides I quite like my current job!)

My best friend is a TA - her husband earns shedloads - she's been in travel for years (thats how we met) but she definitely couldn't afford her lifestyle on her own...

KAtie x

[Gabsnoot]

Before I had kids I was a customer services manager in the travel industry, my job was less about selling and more about training staff and dealing with complaints but I did do some selling. The travel industry is very much finance driven nowadays, meeting targets, upselling overpriced/ sometimes inferior products and commiting customers to holidays they sometimes can't afford by signing them up with 'low deposits'. The subject is really interesting but the hours are long and the wages can be low unless you are a hardcore seller.

Some of the complaints are ridiculous , we would have customers who complained every year about their holiday so they could get some money off their next one. I once recieved an official complaint, in writing, from a customer because they weather on their holiday was not as good as it said it would be in the brochure

I remember watching a TV programme about a bespoke travel company that dealt in luxury breaks for the super rich and it looked like an amazing job, although those jobs will be few and far between, I'm sure.

I feel like I've put a real downer on it and I apologise. There are positives to working in travel too, could you approach a local agency to see if you could do some work experience, then you could see first hand if you think it would be a good fit for you

[cartoonp]

Look online at the ta sites it will say something like job vacancy. There been quite a lot for Thomas cook I seen them advert on there window to go to there website .