Travel Agent, Dude (Career Book)
Travel Agent, Dude (Career Book)
Imagine having your very own genie, like Aladdin, who at your command could whisk you anywhere in the world — to faraway Bangkok for instance, or to the Pyramids along the Nile, or to the majestic Taj Mahal in India. And not only could the genie fly you, miraculously anywhere in the world, but he could put you up in the fanciest lodgings, with a chauffeur driven limousine at your service, and a fabulous array of restaurants, cafes and nightclubs at hand for your pleasure. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, in a way, our nation’s 250,000 travel agents are like that genie. They can book passage, first class, or coach, in steamship lines, airliners, cruise ships, and on other forms of transportation. They can also complete arrangements for lodgings anywhere you want to go, and in any price category depending on your budget, and the number of people in your party.
Travel agents also arrange for pleasure cruises which visit destinations around the globe, arrange for tours of distant countries or regions, including such popular spots in our own country as Las Vegas and Disneyworld. They can also put a rental car at your disposal when you arrive at your destination and handle many of the other thousand and one details that must be taken care of to make your visit, cruise or tour memorable. You could probably handle many of these details yourself, and indeed many travelers do just that — they book their own transportation, hotel accommodations, and car rentals, but these days travel, especially to foreign countries, can be quite complicated. There are all sorts of limitations on the weight of baggage that you can bring in, or the total dollar value of goods that you can take with you, or the amount of cash that you may take along, and many other considerations. In addition, many countries require special inoculations and all require passports and visas to enter the country for any period of time. There are forms to be filled out when you arrive in your destination country, baggage transfers, airport fees and many other details to be handled.
A travel agent can handle all of this for you, or arrange to have a tour guide or agent handy when you land to take care of it. And the best part is that it doesn’t cost you —the traveler — a cent. The travel agent’s fee is paid for by the airline, the hotel, rental agency, or other service provider, and you pay nothing extra for the travel agent’s services.
That explains at least in part why travel and tourism is such a big business, estimated to account for more than billion a year for leisure travel for individuals or groups and another estimated 0 billion a year for corporate or business travel. This latter category covers trips by sales personnel, executives and other company personnel who must travel all over the country and often all over the world, to take care of company business. As you can see this part of the travel business accounts for almost twice as much as travel by private individuals or groups. And there are many travel agencies that specialize in just that — handling travel requirements of corporate executives and other company personnel.
Still other travel agencies specialize in leisure travel. And others handle both, in fact it is estimated that the vast majority of the nation’s 22,000 travel agencies handle both. The travel industry is a big, booming business, and it’s expected to grow much larger and faster in the years to come.
This is partly due to deregulation of the airline and other transportation services, which now are highly competitive in price, and which tend to keep prices low so that more and more travelers can take advantage of it. Prior to deregulation, air and land travel was all regulated by government agencies, and every airline flying to Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul, or wherever had to charge the same amount.Imagine having your very own genie, like Aladdin, who at your command could whisk you anywhere in the world — to faraway Bangkok for instance, or to the Pyramids along the Nile, or to the majestic Taj Mahal in India. And not only could the genie fly you, miraculously anywhere in the world, but he could put you up in the fanciest lodgings, with a chauffeur driven limousine at your service, and a fabulous array of restaurants, cafes and nightclubs at hand for your pleasure. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, in a way, our nation’s 250,000 travel agents are like that genie. They can book passage, first class, or coach, in steamship lines, airliners, cruise ships, and on other forms of transportation. They can also complete arrangements for lodgings anywhere you want to go, and in any price category depending on your budget, and the number of people in your party.
Travel agents also arrange for pleasure cruises which visit destinations around the globe, arrange for tours of distant countries or regions, including such popular spots in our own country as Las Vegas and Disneyworld. They can also put a rental car at your disposal when you arrive at your destination and handle many of the other thousand and one details that must be taken care of to make your visit, cruise or tour memorable. You could probably handle many of these details yourself, and indeed many travelers do just that — they book their own transportation, hotel accommodations, and car rentals, but these days travel, especially to foreign countries, can be quite complicated. There are all sorts of limitations on the weight of baggage that you can bring in, or the total dollar value of goods that you can take with you, or the amount of cash that you may take along, and many other considerations. In addition, many countries require special inoculations and all require passports and visas to enter the country for any period of time. There are forms to be filled out when you arrive in your destination country, baggage transfers, airport fees and many other details to be handled.
A travel agent can handle all of this for you, or arrange to have a tour guide or agent handy when you land to take care of it. And the best part is that it doesn’t cost you —the traveler — a cent. The travel agent’s fee is paid for by the airline, the hotel, rental agency, or other service provider, and you pay nothing extra for the travel agent’s services.
That explains at least in part why travel and tourism is such a big business, estimated to account for more than billion a year for leisure travel for individuals or groups and another estimated 0 billion a year for corporate or business travel. This latter category covers trips by sales personnel, executives and other company personnel who must travel all over the country and often all over the world, to take care of company business. As you can see this part of the travel business accounts for almost twice as much as travel by private individuals or groups. And there are many travel agencies that specialize in just that — handling travel requirements of corporate executives and other company personnel.
Still other travel agencies specialize in leisure travel. And others handle both, in fact it is estimated that the vast majority of the nation’s 22,000 travel agencies handle both. The travel industry is a big, booming business, and it’s expected to grow much larger and faster in the years to come.
This is partly due to deregulation of the airline and other transportation services, which now are highly competitive in price, and which tend to keep prices low so that more and more travelers can take advantage of it. Prior to deregulation, air and land travel was all regulated by government agencies, and every airline flying to Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul, or wherever had to charge the same amount.
List Price: $ 2.99
Price: $ 2.99