1998 has been an unbelievable year so far. If I hear about one more merger or one more acquisition I will...!

Airlines, Hotels, Car Rentals, Cruise, Tour Operators, Travel Agencies, Mega-Travel Companies...What Next???

Well from my perspective, it is not all bad, since soon instead of our firm doing business with thousands of companies throughout the US, we will only be servicing 4-5 companies <joke>. Well, at least we still have our Global Clients...they haven't started buying or merging with anyone!!!

The Job Market is really strange. All over our nation we keep hearing "Where are the really good Travel Agents"? In actuality they are still here...I keep reading articles that the Travel Industry isn't attracting new recruits as it used to. Not true.

What is true is that many schools still don't get it. For example, last week we had a large number of openings for entry level-Travel School Grads. All they needed was a good comprehension of geography, the ability to communicate in English, and be able to write grammatically correct. One NY school, which has an Associates Degree program for $18,000, sent us 20 resumes of recent graduates. I contacted the school's placement director, gave her the specs, and suggested all 20 graduates come to our NY office for testing and interviews. I also told them to dress properly since they would be sent to our client the same day.

Out of twenty students, the school sent five, out of the five, three actually showed up. The test we provide is relatively simple and should take about 20 minutes to complete. It took them over 1 hour. After scoring the tests, I came out of my office to join our Regional Vice President, Ms. Robyn Hering, to speak with the three AAS (Travel & Tourism) degree holders.

I told them they all did very poorly on the test, especially in the geography section. One young lady actually believed Paris to be in Italy. We told them they must study harder and explained the "Whys & Wherefores". It was sad, really sad...All three young women had nice personalities, came to our offices corporately dressed, but lacked the basic skills required by our clients.

We do know some schools that really do an excellent job, but most do not. This will create a problem down line. However, today, in what is considered by most a very "dry" market, there are highly qualified candidates out there, but due to the perceived shortage, salaries are quite high. Generally higher than most smaller travel agencies can afford.
When the "Caps" hit, and then the "Cuts" hit, the industry was in shock...how could the airline industry do this to us, the travel agent, the backbone, the largest distribution system in the world? What will this do to our business?

Most travel agencies, even prior to the Caps, were charging "service charges" to their corporate clients. Many of our clients nationwide not only charge service charges to their clients, but some even charge back employee's salaries and even our personnel fees.

Today, with all of the acquisitions and mergers, and the "War" to seize the largest, or the most of the viable corporate travel accounts, the need for highly trained corporate agents is on the rise.

And it isn't just happening in the big cities of America, it is occurring all over the US (see salary charts). Those travel agencies who can't afford to be competitive on salaries, must, today, become more creative. The easiest creative move is through the development of Incentive Programs.

Another way to service your clients is to hire Entry Level candidates and Leisure Agents and train them into corporate agents. Every super-mega travel company has their own school or training facility. You can do the same. You can recruit and train and produce the same results as the "Big Boys". But, you must have a trainer within your company, or someone dedicated to train new employees. In the long run, you will save a lot of money, especially since entry level candidates and skilled leisure agents are less costly than corporate agents.

Of course, the newest debate is the concept of ARC providing accreditation for corporate travel departments. I think we must be prepared for the airlines going to Net Fares a lot sooner.

A travel agency today must analyze their direction concerning their clientele, their employees, and where the opportunities are for growing their businesses.

As our business changes, those travel agency owners and managers who are flexible and can adapt to change will survive.

We have anticipated some of these changes. In 1996 we predicted a sharp rise in salaries. It started in 1997, and now in 1998, it is still moving upward. Our database in 1996 topped 100,000 candidates, today our database is over 1 million candidates worldwide. We are offering many value added programs to assist our clients. They include, with no pass along charges,
Credit & Criminal Checks, Drug Testing, IQ & Integrity Testing, and this fall we are launching our Loyalty Retention Program called "Priority +". This program provides Credit Dollars (CD's) for every placement fee we charge. Our clients will be able to turn in their CD's for Credits towards future placements.

SALARY CHART

The Salaries listed below reflect 2-3 Years Experience with strong CRS skills.

For Entry Level Candidates, preferably Travel School Graduates Salaries range in most of the largest cities from $17,000 to
$20,000 with 6 month reviews.

The Salaries listed below reflect Managers with an emphasis on Corporate or Leisure. Minimum 5-7 years experience with hands-on CRS skills. *This column provides only Corp Mgrs from Travel Agencies, not Corporate Travel Departments or On-Sites.

© Copyright Yours In Travel Personnel Agency, Inc. 5/98