1-Day Travel Professional Certification Program
Success in today's competitive travel sales environment usually depends on establishing yourself as a dedicated professional who delivers real value combined with superb service. Whether you've just started the journey or are well on the path to a successful career as a travel professional, it is imperative that you sharpen your skills. This can be achieved through a continuous process of learning, to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving industry. TRS Consulting, a licensed training center of The Travel Institute, USA, and a strategic partner and preferred external training provider of EmQuest, provides professional certifications and customized learning solutions that encompass all career stages - from entry level to the executive level. Our valued customers include IBM India, American Express Travel, Kanoo Travel Group (UAE & Oman), BCD Travel Kuwait - GSA of Swiss International (Oman), Thai Airways (UAE), SriLankan Airlines (UAE), Air India Express (UAE), Hemas Group (Sri Lanka), ACS Kuwait (Galileo Distribution Company), Orbit Travel Business School (Mumbai); predecessor of Orbitz Travel & Tours and Al Rais Travel & Shipping Agencies.
Duration of the training for each module - 1 day: 09:00 hrs -17:00 hrs
Selling Skills for the Travel Industry (B2C)
- Insights to the critical issues of selling travel
- Understanding the travel buyer and the sales cycle
- Understanding travel products and services
- Ability to handle objections
- Ability to motivate buyers
Learning objectives:
Overcome resistance, motivate buyers and increase walk-in sales, build relationships in the sales process, develop ability to close sales and improve telemarketing skills.
Professional Selling Business to Business (B2B)
- Insights to the critical components in customer prospecting
- Understand the implications of customer and market intelligence and its impact on prospecting
- Tools to pre-prospect and client profitability
- Understand the key indicators of customer prospecting
Learning objectives:
Develop a customer sourcing approach to target qualified prospects, effectively negotiate to gain new customers, formulate an approach strategy leveraging price and service and your USP.
Retail Sales and Customer Service
- Gain insights to the critical issues of retail selling
- Understanding the retail buyer and the sales cycle
- Motivate buyers and increase retail sales
- Understand what customer service is from the buyer's and seller's point of view
- Develop and implement a program focusing on customer service
- Identify key characteristics of professionalism & time management
Learning objectives:
Manage customer expectations and gain customer loyalty by being customer centric.
Selling Travel Insurance
- Understand the different types of travel insurance products
- Identify the travel insurance needs of your clients
- Recommend travel insurance to clients and describe its benefits
- Recognize the profitability of selling travel insurance and its contribution to the bottomline
- Demonstrate confidence when recommending travel insurance products, explaining the options, and overcoming objections
Learning objectives:
Develop a customer sourcing approach to target qualified prospects, effectively negotiate to gain new customers, formulate an approach strategy leveraging price and service and your USP.
Customer Service as a Competitive Edge
- Understanding what customer service is from the buyer's and seller's point of view
- Understanding the importance of internal customer service
- Identify the key objectives of customer service
- Identify four ways of finding out how customers percieve your service
- Identify key characteristics of professionalism
Learning objectives:
Focus on customer service to gain a competitive edge, relate between sales and service, deal with stress and manage time more efficiently.
Customer Value Management
- Insights to the key components in the customer relationship
- Tools to review and monitor client profitability
- Customer data management
- Understanding of the financial implications in customer relationships
- Strategic planner for your Top 20 customers
Learning objectives:
Understand financial implications in customer relationships, distinguish between good and excellent customer relationships and demonstrate value-based customer propositions.
Customer Relationship Management & Service Leadership
- Understanding key account management, its objectives and its limitations
- Using tools to review and monitor client profitability
- Understanding of the financial implications in customer relationships
- Strategic planner for your Top 20 customers
- Understanding the challenges of modern day leadership
Learning objectives:
Review and monitor key performance indicators in a customer relationship and generate long sustaining customer associations for a healthier bottomline.
Leadership Skills & Managerial Essentials
- Understanding the challenges of the modern day leadership and its personal side
- Understanding the key characteristics of effective leaders
- Building a vision that enlists full support
- Scouring the terrain for resources
Learning objectives:
Balance working tensions in new times, accept the responsibility with total awareness and establish credibility, motivate employees and develop leadership skills of your team, develop a vision and initiate progress in challenging times.
Change & Performance Management for Bottomline Impact
- Understand the basic concepts of a balanced scorecard
- Build and implement a balanced scorecard using the nine-step methodology
- Develop strategy profiles, maps and initiatives for improving organization strategy
- Building a strategy-focused organization through the correct sequence of steps
- Driving a performance- based budget and employee accountability
Learning objectives:
Learn the concept of a balanced scorecard and how to develop and improve accountability and performance.
Meetings & Incentive Travel
- Understanding what meeting and incentive travel programs are and how they are used
- Understanding what motivates buyers and how they make purchasing decisions
- Recognize the role travel agencies can play in providing meeting and incentive travel
- Appreciate how meeting and incentive travel is sold
Learning objectives:
Plan, operate and run a meeting or group incentive trip while calculating costs and prices.
Special Interest Travel
- Identify the growing trends in special interest travel
- Decide which special interest niche is right for you
- Develop a marketing strategy and plan for your niche
- Effectively promote special interest programs
Learning objectives:
Promote special interest travel and develop a strategic plan for your niche.
Planning Itineraries
- Explain the importance of PRIDE (pace, routing, interests, detail and energy) as these concepts relate to successful itinerary planning
- Use all of the resources available to conduct destination research
- Identify elements of a tour itinerary
Learning objectives:
Learn the process of destination research, recognize key touring regions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Far East, and the Pacific Rim, and plot an efficient day-to-day itinerary.
Time Management
- Practice strategies that will allow you to balance your time more efficiently and effectively
- Set a time management goal and eliminate barriers to achieving it
- Plan your activities to increase your discretionary time
- Identify and reduce common time wasters
Learning objectives:
Learn strategies and set goals in time management to improve your personal and professional life.
Professionalism at Work
- Practice strategies to enhance your professionalism at work
- Demonstrate the characteristics and behaviors that define your role as a travel 'professional'
- Identify basic principles for ethical behaviour in the travel workplace
- Write and use your own personal code of conduct
Learning objectives:
Realize the necessity of ethics at the work place and define the codes of conduct.
Teamwork
- Develop the mission of your team or organization
- Evaluate how effectively your team functions and its progress towards optimal effectiveness
- Define specific roles and responsibilities of your team members
- Identify team problems and work together to find solutions
- Practice appropriate methods to identify and resolve team conflict
Learning objectives:
Develop and implement your team's mission, identify and address workplace problems and resolve conflicts.
Professional Service Fees Management (zero commission environment)
- Understanding the downside of the historical travel agency commission earning system
- Distinguish between the traditional and the new economic business model
- Develop a service fee strategy best suited for your travel agency
- Define the type and scope of services that call for service fees
- Define the type of fees to charge for different services
Learning objectives:
Present your travel agency service fees and how best to deal and respond to customer situations (face to face).
Interpersonal Communication
- Understanding interpersonal communication as a means to build lasting relationships
- Utilize guidelines for effective verbal communication
- Practice non-verbal behaviors that support your intended message
- Active listening
- Adapt to various communication styles
Learning objectives:
Communicate by expressing yourself confidently and effectively in a way that will help improve your relationship with clients and colleagues.
Effective Listening Skills
- Identify the various stages and types of listening
- Overcome barriers to effective listening
- Develop a personal plan for listening improvement
Learning objectives:
Develop the ability to listen effectively and practice techniques to improve this critical life skill.
Business Writing Skills
- Basic principles of effective business writing
- Identify practical strategies for writing more effectively
- Write concise reports and proposals that get results
- Use professional marketing communications to publicize your business efforts
Learning objectives:
Practice your writing techniques and communication more effectively in your e-mails, memos, and business letters.
Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism (2 day program)
The Certified Travel & Tourism Professional (CTTP)
Brief Overview
The Travel & Tourism Industry is the largest industry in the world today, with significant economic environmental and socio-cultural impacts. For many rich countries, the industry is an increasingly important development Strategy to positively address economic growth.
Tourism continues to grow and a double-digit growth is forecasted in the coming years with new hospitality projects being developed by many International companies.
From new hotels, airport expansion plans, sport events and leisure services, there is undoubtedly an evident increase in the business opportunities made available for the Travel Industry.
To manage this growth, the Travel Industry would require sustainable knowledge, expertise and personnel who would understand the changing times and business challenges facing the Travel & Tourism Industry.
Learning Outcomes
- Introduces the Travel & Tourism environment and shares a global, regional and national, perspective of the changing times affecting the Travel Industry
- Introduces the Travel and Tourism Organization (Competences, Resources and Competitive Advantage)
- Strategy and Strategic Objectives for the Travel and Tourism organizations in a macro context
- Competitive Strategy and Direction for Travel and Tourism organizations
- Understanding Customer Service in the Travel Industry
- Understanding the importance of Supplier relationships in the Travel Industry (Vendor Management)
- Understanding the Sales Management function in the Travel Industry (Selling, Retaining and Prospecting of Customers)
- Understand the Performance Indicators for financial analysis in a Travel and Tour organization
- Understand the Impact of Technology in Changing times (From GDS to Internet to Web Marketing)
- Insights to Managing Service Companies (Leadership and Managerial essentials)
Duration of the Training
2 days session of 0900hrs to 1700hrs
Testing & Certification
The Testing will be based on Participant’s submitting an Essay based Reflective Statement of the CTTP modules and will be based on the following objectives:
- Learning Objectives of the Program
- Their take away from the Course and its impact on them and their Work place (if applicable)
- Barriers at their work place to implement their new learning’s
- The recommended solution they would propose to implement the new Learning’s
- A Project submission of a White Paper Document on a Topic selected from an optional list of Business Challenges
Criteria
To successfully attain the CTTP designation, candidates must successfully complete a White Paper.
The Paper will be graded on a pass/fail basis and must:
- Be between 2000 and 3000 words in length, single-spaced in 12-point text using MS Word
- Include a cover page with the Title of the White Paper, your name, Company Name, Telephone number and E-mail address. Your name must also be included along with page numbers on each subsequent page
- Contain proper attribution and sourcing when referencing quotes, figures, etc.
- Be mailed or submitted electronically as an attachment to Sundar Vasudaven, Principal Consultant at sundar@trsplus.com
Grading
Papers will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis and also based on whether they meet the following criteria:
- Timely and relevant content
- Proper substantiation of information
- Acceptable adherence to basic grammar and spelling rules
- Adherence to established essay-writing structure, i.e. begin with a statement of Purpose or thesis that is supported and concluded with a summary of the main points.
Results
Candidates will receive their results within 21 business days of submission. Papers needing improvement will be returned with a strength and weakness report. Within ten days of receiving a grade, the test taker may request a re-grade.
The results of the re-grade will be final.
© TRS Consulting FZ LLC 2017