One Dream Trip, Please!

A missed flight or a hotel reservation gone wrong? Tour operator, a crucial cog in the tourism sector, ensures a hassle-free trip and takes home a handsome salary in the bargain…

- Pritha Roy Choudhury

As travel and tourism is poised to take pole position in the services industry, the demand for professionals in its core areas has also seen a quantum jump. “The travel and tourism industry sees the role of the travel professional as more than just a sales and consultancy oriented one, providing high product knowledge, accuracy, excellent customer service skills, and out-of-the-box thinking,” says Vineetha. G, Manager-Training of Delhi based ‘Bird Academy’ - an authorized training centre for International Air Transport Association (IATA) courses.

As a tour operator, you will be involved in all the steps of a tour, starting from the design of the itinerary, confirming accommodation, organizing excursion to providing guides. You can get involved in transportation which includes airlines, trains, cruises. Then there are allied services like ticketing, sales and marketing, mastering the art of fixing accommodation and reservation.

Who can become a tour operator?

To become a successful tour operator, one needs to have the passion for the job, a pleasing personality and very good communication skills. You need to be aware of the trends in your city, look out for unexplored areas and do your homework on that. You are expected to know about the culture of your destination as well as the tourists so that you can make their visit exciting.