Pictured: Kirsten Hughes, Travel Counsellors’ chief commercial officer and managing director
Travel Counsellors is targeting members of the travel industry such as hotel and airline staff to become home-based agents.
The company has devised Travel Trade, a training programme designed specifically for those with customer-facing experience in travel to run their own franchise.
The move has been prompted by a rise in enquiries from non-agent travel staff and the closure of industry contact centres, such as that planned by Virgin Atlantic in Crawley which put 150 jobs at risk.
Travel Trade will be Travel Counsellors’ fifth training programme. It currently runs Leisure Travel Counsellor and Business Travel Counsellor courses for those moving from existing agency roles. Its Travel Counsellors Academy is for those from outside travel, while a Return to Travel programme is for agents who have spent more than a year away from the role.
The new course costs £5,000, which is half that of the academy, with training tailor-made based on the applicant’s career history.
Trainees will learn how to use the in-house booking system, have 20 weeks’ business development support and gain access to the firm’s Learning Management System.
Kirsten Hughes, Travel Counsellors’ chief commercial officer and managing director, said more than 10% of recruitment enquiries in the past year had been from non-agent industry staff.
“We are seeing a distinct increase in demand from these professionals,” she said. “With recent closure announcements, it is important to offer these individuals the opportunity to stay in an industry they love and open up new career paths. There is nothing in the industry like this [course].”
Warrington-based Helen Parker worked as a cabin quality manager for Thomas Cook Airlines before retraining with Travel Counsellors.
She said: “It’s great that even more industry professionals now have this opportunity. I thrive on building relationships with customers and seeing the results.”