How the Travel Industry Changes

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by: merreegezt
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Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 Time: 5:53 AM
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Based from studies, half of all baby boomers or people aged 45 to 59 dream about world travel in this case. In this case, those over 55 account for 32 percent of all hotel accommodations purchased in the United States. Most of these are leisure travelers, and most are spending impressive sums of money on restaurants, lodging, tours and sightseeing.

If you need to predict the impact of aging but active baby boomers on the travel industry, you do not need a crystal ball. The demographics in this case combined with trends toward early retirement and a healthy economy forecast an unprecedented boom for the travel industry. You can say that an industry boom is nearly always good news for job seekers and career changers. If work in the travel industry is something that you are considering, do explore your options.

Here, you should also consider positions in marketing, sales, publishing, and Web page management in addition to being a travel agent. It is a good idea to consider the niches that serve mature travelers such as the group tour industry. According to a group travel manager for a travel agency, a growth area with increasing competition from new companies are packaged tours for seniors. In this case, you can try job opportunities such as planner, customer service representative, bus driver, tour guide, and marketing specialist. Targeted by the trips form this travel agency are the senior travelers and so mature drivers and escorts are especially appreciated in this case. For their drivers, a lot of these employees are retired postal workers and city bus drivers. Here, existing between the passengers and the drivers is a good bond and this is because they are of the same age and they share the same humor and outlook. No specific training is required for many of the jobs in the travel and hospitality industry, although travel agents may benefit from a training program in the field.

The vice president of marketing for a retail travel agents association recommends starting as an outside travel agent before making the leap to running your own agency. If you booked travel arrangements for family and friends then an established agency might give you a commission. To capitalize on the trend toward senior travelers, consider a special training program, such as the certification as a Specialist in Mature Adult Travel, sponsored by the association of American travel agents.

She decided that she was going to try her luck working for the travel industry and what a lady did was take early retirement from an US company after 30 years in supervision and customer service. She conducted some research and then she sent letters and resumes to dozens of tour groups. A response that was not heartening was what she got. Another letter was sent by her after several months, this one to the very top, and the vice president in charge of tours gave her a job afterwards.

This event happened five years ago and she started as a part time marketing specialist and quickly added the title Tour Escort to her resume. Already in her 50s, she still brings groups of senior travelers to such destinations as Branson, Missouri, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. When it comes to this, she said that she gets a lot of satisfaction from seeing people have a good time.

The trips to Branson provide excitement in seeing the shows and sometimes getting up close to the stars. She also enjoys the confidence expressed by groups that request her as the escort on their trips and the friendships she has formed with passengers. To help to balance the hard work inherent in days that can start before dawn and end long after the sun has set, she has these advantages.

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