Job opportunities are growing for experienced travel agents, including home-based agents who are looking to make the transition from independent to employee, according to Doug Walsh, director of sales and marketing of Hot Travel Jobs, which operates a job placement service and online industry resource tool.
“Our leading indicators have identified a higher-than-usual rate of job advancement over the last three months,” he said.
The industry employment data that Hot Travel Jobs has analyzed show a rise in job opportunities for agents, partly because an increase in the attrition rate of veteran agents.
“This has created a positive environment for midlevel employees seeking advancement,” he said.
A number of independent agents are “transitioning” to full- or part-time employment status, Walsh said.
“The resumes we review are indicative of home-based agents putting themselves into the marketplace,” he said. “With the current demand for agents, we believe that this an excellent time to make the transition.”
Walsh said that Hot Travel Jobs is seeing independent, home-based agents accepting both employment positions that enable them to work at home as well as jobs that would require them to report to a physical office.
Trained leisure and corporate agents both are in demand, he said. Along with the increase in managerial opportunities, there is a need for trained corporate and leisure agents to fill vacated positions and newly created jobs.
Trained agents are needed by corporate travel companies in particular because they require agents with experience in using GDSs, he said.