Travel agents assess their customers needs and make the best possible travel arrangements for them. Many major cruise lines, resorts, and specialty travel groups use travel agents to promote travel packages to the millions of people who travel every year. They may visit hotels, resorts, and restaurants to judge, firsthand, their comfort, cleanliness, and quality of food and service so they can base recommendations on their own travel experiences or those of colleagues or clients. Depending on the size of the travel agency, an agent may specialize by type of travel, such as leisure or business, or destination, such as Europe or Africa.
Travel agents promote their services using telemarketing, direct mail, and the Internet.
They make presentations to social and special interest groups, arrange advertising displays, and suggest company-sponsored trips to business managers. Reservation and transportation ticket agents , as well as travel clerks , assist the public in making travel plans, reservations, and purchasing tickets for a variety of transportation services. Most reservation agents work for large hotel chains or airlines, helping people plan trips and make reservations. They usually work in large reservation centers answering telephone inquiries and offering suggestions on travel arrangements such as routes, time schedules, rates, and types of accommodation. They quote fares and room rates, sell tickets, and use computerized systems to quickly obtain information needed to make, change, or cancel reservations for customers.