Travel qualifications leave recruits unprepared
NEW entrants to the
travel industry are often
surprised to discover
that travel and tourism is
a sales-based profession.
Agents need to be prepared
and adequately trained
to sell and deliver a high
quality of customer service
while remaining solutions
driven. However, tertiary
institutions offering travel
and tourism are not providing
this foundation at all,
believes Wouter Nel, sales
and marketing manager
for Southern Africa at Air
Mauritius.
“When someone
completes a travel and
tourism qualification, they
are very ill-equipped for
the job of travel adviser,”
agrees Pentravel ceo, Sean
Hough. It is for this reason
that Pentravel does not
require its applicants to be
in possession of a travel and
tourism diploma or degree.
“They do need to have a
tertiary-level education
because it shows that they
can start and complete
something but they do not
need to have travel and
tourism specifically. We
train extensively within the
company itself,” he says.
The failure of travel
and tourism colleges to
prepare graduates, results
in a lack of confidence in
the workplace, says Club
Travel HR manager, Claire
Rushworth. “New agents
often have a confidence
problem when dealing with
clients. As such, developing
communication and
consulting skills in college
– such as learning to qualify
a client’s needs – would be
beneficial,” she says.
Robyn Christie, Travelport
country manager for
Southern Africa, says the
recent #feesmustfall protests
across South Africa indicate
that education is under
the spotlight and requires
urgent attention. “While the
discussion began with the
proposed fee increase, it is
very clear that one of the
things the students were
protesting about is poor
levels of education at all
levels. Tourism, for instance,
is a subject offered at some
schools but the focus on
outbound travel is minimal.”
What’s more, as a result
of the focus on domestic
tourism and not the various
aspects of the travel
industry, graduates end up
better suited to a job in a
hotel rather than a travel
agency, says Cheryll Watt,
director of Development and
Training Strategies. “There
are some good colleges
out there, but most of the
courses being offered are
not relevant to the travel
industry,” she says. “This
is why some agencies
have started running their
own travel programmes or
learnerships.”
In-house training is a must
The lack of adequate
preparation at tertiary
level means a two- to
four-week training course
is crucial for new recruits
when they enter the
industry, says Wouter.
“Most travel consortiums
invest quite heavily in
training new recruits
while balancing this
with ongoing training for
experienced staff.” This
is good news, Wouter
says, because it is during
this training that they
will learn to understand
the customer profile,
techniques on how to best
serve their customers and
identify customer needs
and wants – all things
that play an integral part
in the travel consortium’s
success. “At the end of
the day, this is a 100%
customer-driven industry
so new recruits need to
develop these skills from
the outset,” he says.
Club Travel provides a
six-month Work Integrated
Learning Programme for
students, which Claire
says provides students
with practical, on-the-job
training while providing
the agency with a larger
pool from which to recruit.
“But outside of the
agency, webinars are a
fantastic tool for product
training,” she says, adding
that they are quick and
informative.
Claire argues that not
all travel agents are
undertrained because
they can’t afford time
out of the office. “We
have successfully rolled
out training initiatives to
meet business objectives
and staff development,”
she says, adding that
training should ideally be
held internally so that it
is company-specific and
easier to attend. “Training
must add value – and if it
does, people will attend.”
Sean agrees. “Agents
cannot afford not to spend time out of the
office to attend training.
It is too important,” he
says.
“Our new recruits are
trained at Pentravel’s
Travel Academy where
our Amadeus-accredited
trainers spend two
weeks training agents
on all the various
systems that we
use, our own booking
software, reservations
software, who our
preferred partners are,
etc.
“Then within the first
two or three months,
they come back to the
Travel Academy for
‘Sunshine Induction
Training’, after which
they return for ‘PULSE
(Pentravel Ultimate
Leisure Sales Expert)
Training’, and then they
come back again for
‘Brand New Training’.”
Pentravel agents
also receive constant
preferred partner
training and coaching,
Sean adds.
Agents need first-hand experience
INDUSTRY experts agree
that, in addition to insufficient
training at a tertiary level,
another issue in the travel
industry is the fact that too
many travel agents are not
well travelled – and this leads
to a lack of context when
attempting to sell travel.
“Not only are travel
and tourism courses not
adequately preparing
students but we also face a
challenge in that some of the
students have not been on
an aeroplane or checked into
a hotel, therefore they do not
fully understand the service
they are selling,” says Claire
Rushworth.
As such, she believes the
best way for a travel consultant
to gain experience is to attend
educationals. “This is the best
way to gain the experience of
travelling in their clients’ shoes
so they can pre-empt their
needs and offer value-adds,”
she says.
Theresa Szejwallo agrees.
“One of the best ways agents
can learn the nuances of
travel is to experience it
first-hand. Educationals put
agents in a better position
to advise clients what travel
is all about,” she says. The
Travel Corporation conducts
educationals across its
brands. “Taking part in a
familiarisation trip goes a long
way in exposing agents to the
type of travel their clients will
experience,” she says.
Sean Hough says
educationals are part and
parcel of Pentravel’s training
philosophy. “I don’t think
there is a travel company that
invests close to what we do
in staff travel and I think it is
so sad that travel companies
do not send their agents away
as much as they did before,”
he says.
Not surprisingly, online
supplier workshops are an
increasingly popular training
tool. Linda van der Pol,
divisional head of TravelInfo,
says her team had noticed
a demand for agent training
but also a high number
of no-shows at traditional
workshops being hosted
by suppliers. As such,
Travelinfo introduced its online
workshops, which have been
well received by agents and
suppliers alike.
“We have a high percentage
of repeat customers making
use of our workshops and
those suppliers that have
experienced it often come
back,” she says. However,
she does not think they can
serve as a substitute for
educationals. “They serve
different purposes,” she
says. “The problem with
educationals is that only a
certain number of agents
can attend. It is also costly
and takes time out of the
office. However, with online
workshops you can reach a
high number of agents across
the region.
“Ultimately I think they
complement each other very
nicely, but nothing beats
experiencing the product
yourself.”
Recruitment remains a challenge
IT’S understandable that travel
agents cannot afford time
out of the office to attend
training courses because of
the pace at which agencies
operate, says Theresa
Szejwallo, md of Trafalgar and
The Travel Corporation. This,
coupled with the dwindling
opportunities to travel as part
of an educational group, has
seen fewer millennials take an
interest in the travel industry.
“Those who have followed
a tertiary qualification in
travel and tourism show more
of an interest in pursuing
it as a career,” says Kim
Botti, director of Lee Botti
and Associates. “The travel
industry has always held
a certain allure. However,
without the travel perks and
educational exposure from
previous years, compounded
by the salaries, which are
lower compared with other
industries, the appeal to
become involved in the
industry has reduced.”
Kim says there is an
expectation that a relevant
qualification will afford
candidates access to the
industry when there are
actually few opportunities.
They also have unrealistic
expectations of earnings.
“The glamour of the industry
paints an attractive image,
yet the practicality of it is
hard work and long hours.
However, at least those who
have studied in the particular
field are better equipped for
the real world of the travel
industry,” says Kim.
She believes the industry
is still attractive to
youngsters but the entrylevel
opportunities are
rare. “Qualifications do not
guarantee employment but
attitude and customer service
skills, combined with travel
knowledge and experience
go a long way to make a
youngster more marketable.”
Pentravel only recruits staff
who are completely new to the
travel industry. “To work for us,
you cannot have worked for
another travel company as an
employee. This happens very,
very rarely,” says Sean Hough.
“I think one of the weaknesses
in our industry is that we
recruit a lot from each other
– so it is kind of like moving
deckchairs around. For this
reason, I find it very important
to recruit new people,” he
says. He says recruitment
is a large part of Pentravel’s
philosophy. “We are more of
a recruitment business than
a travel business,” he says.
“I will have meetings about
recruitment and optimising our
travel careers website rather
than about travel itself.
Suppliers play a crucial role
IT IS absolutely crucial for
travel agents to have
weekly training on new
products and services
available from suppliers,
stresses Wouter Nel.
As such, suppliers are
also an integral part of
agent training. Theresa
Szejwallo says suppliers
use ongoing training to
ensure that agents who
are exposed to TCC brands
are getting the complete
picture of what is it they
are selling as well as how
to sell the range of brands
and products.
According to Theresa,
The Travel Corporation
offers on-demand webinars
to accommodate agents
who require training on
the company’s various
products.
An online e-Learning
platform will also be
introduced and updated in
February, 2016.
“Moreover, we recently
introduced our TTC
Wanderlust Training
Academy to ensure
consistent and relevant
training to cater for each
specific individual’s needs
and to showcase how to
sell our various brands,”
Theresa reveals. She says
the academy will look at
each brand’s unique selling
points and distinguish
features of each TTC brand
while applying a specific
focus on how to sell them.
“We will also introduce
agents to our ‘behind
the scenes’ teams in our
finance and reservations
departments so they can
put faces to names and
ask pertinent questions,”
she adds.
Travelport, on the other
hand, has plans to train
those who teach tourism.
As a member of the
Global Travel and Tourism
Programme, Travelport
can provide direction and
support to the educators
who teach tourism in
schools.
“Travelport has invested
in providing a training
course for educators
that provides a better
understanding of the role
of technology within the
outbound travel industry,”
says Robyn Christie,
adding that it is the first
initiative of its kind in the
region.
