Certified Vacation Planner

Welcome to Certified Vacation Planner

What does a certified vacation, holiday and trip planner do? Most of us have taken family vacations or single vacations. Have you ever thought of the planning involved? Planning a trip can be a very time consuming and frustrating ordeal. The personal travel planner is here to help. The certified vacation planner will assist you in planning a trip to your favorite travel destination anywhere in the world. The vacation planner will organize all aspects of your vacation and travel needs including: transportation, lodging, best restaurants, recreation, touring, culture and attractions. Everything is planned out for you based on your interests and desires for a perfect vacation anywhere in the USA or world.

The vacation planner will plan your trip and in the vacation travel plan, will most likely include the following information for your vacation trip:

• Location and length of trip
• If visiting a foreign country, a description of the culture of the location which might include topics such as the language, religion, type of currency used, and customs of the country
• Weather forecast for the first 5-days of your trip - Based on the weather and cultural information, list items you will need for your trip such as clothing, accessories, personal effects, etc...
• Method of transportation that will work for your destination, plus car rental
• Lodging accommodations
• Good and popular restaurants
• One or more attraction/recreational activity per day
• Estimate cost of your trip based on your vacation budget and needs

Major Issues in becoming a Certified Vacation & Trip Planner

• Travel benefits, such as reduced rates for transportation and lodging, attract many people to this occupation.
• Training at a post secondary vocational school, college, or university is increasingly important.
• Vacation Planner increasingly specialize in specific destinations or type of travel or traveler.
• Keen competition for jobs is expected.

If planning a cruise ship vacation please visit cruise vacation reservations for cruise-ship and cruise information, or pay a visit to business travel reservations for your business travel related travel reservations.

About Certified Vacation, Holiday and Trip Planner and Travel Agents...

Constantly changing airfares and airline schedules, thousands of available vacation packages, and a vast amount of travel information on the web can make your travel plans annoying and time consuming. To sort out the many travel options, tourists and business trip people often turn to a Vacation Planner, who can assess their travel needs and help them make the best possible travel arrangements. Also, many major cruise lines, resorts, and specialty travel groups use Vacation Planners to promote travel packages to millions of people every year.

In general, vacation planners give advice on destinations and make arrangements for transportation, hotel accommodations, car rentals, tours, and recreation. They also may advise on weather conditions, restaurants, and tourist attractions. For international travel, agents also provide information on customs regulations, required papers (passports, visas, and certificates of vaccination), and currency exchange rates.

Vacation Planners consult a variety of published and computer-based sources for information on departure and arrival times, fares, and hotel ratings and accommodations. They may visit hotels, resorts, and restaurants to evaluate comfort, cleanliness, and quality of food and service so that they can base recommendations on their own travel experiences or those of colleagues or travel related clients.

Vacation Planner also promotes 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. Vacation Planner no longer receive commission payments from domestic airlines, and agents face increasing competition from the Internet for low-cost fares. In an effort to find a niche in the market, many Vacation Planner now specializes in travel to certain regions or for certain groups of people, such as honeymooners, grandparents, or ethnic groups.

Vacation Planner spends most of their time behind a desk conferring with clients, completing paperwork, contacting airlines and hotels for travel arrangements, and promoting group tours. During vacation seasons and holiday periods, they may be under a great deal of pressure. Many agents, especially those who are self-employed, frequently work long hours. With advanced computer systems and telecommunication networks, it is increasingly common for Vacation Planner to work at home.

The minimum requirement for those interested in becoming a vacation planner is a high school diploma or equivalent. Technology and computerization have increased the training needs, however, and many employers prefer applicants with more education, such as a post secondary vocational award. Many vocational schools offer full-time travel agent programs that last several months, as well as evening and weekend programs.

Travel agent courses also are offered in public adult education programs and in community and 4-year colleges. A few colleges offer bachelor’s or master’s degrees in travel and tourism. Although few college courses relate directly to travel or tourism, a college education sometimes is desired by employers to establish a background in fields such as computer science, geography, communication, foreign languages, and world history. Courses in accounting and business management also are important, especially for those who expect to manage or start their own travel agencies.

There are basic correspondence course offerings which provide a general understanding of the travel industry. Some Travel agencies also provide on-the-job training for their employees, a significant part of which consists of computer instruction. All employers require computer skills of workers whose jobs involve the operation of cruise ship and airline centralized reservation systems. Some training and travel schools may also offer free travel industry job consulting too.

Continuing travel education is important, as the abundance of travel information readily available through the-web and other sources has resulted in a more informed consumer who wants to deal with a travel expert when choosing a certified travel agent. An experienced Vacation Planner can take advanced self-study or group-study courses which can result in an experienved travel counselor career. It helps if a vacation planner has experience in specific world regions including North America, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Rim nations. With the trend toward more specialization, good geographical knowledge becomes even more important.

Personal travel experience or experience as an airline reservation agent is an asset because knowledge about a city or foreign country often helps influence a client’s travel plans. Patience and the ability to gain the confidence of clients also are useful qualities. Vacation Planner must be well-organized, accurate, and meticulous to compile information from various sources and plan and organize their clients’ travel itineraries. Also, agents who specialize in business travel must work quickly and efficiently because business travel often must be arranged on short notice. As the Internet has become an important tool for making travel arrangements, more travel agencies are using websites to provide their services to clients. This trend has increased the importance of computer skills in this occupation. Other desirable qualifications include good writing and interpersonal and sales skills.

Those who start their own vertified vacation planner agency generally have had experience in an established travel-agency. Before they can receive commissions, these agents usually must gain formal approval from suppliers or corporations, such as airlines, ship lines, or rail lines. The Airlines Reporting Corporation and the International Airlines Travel Agency Network, for example, are the approving bodies for airlines. To gain approval, an agency must be financially sound and employ at least one experienced manager or travel agent.

The Internet increasingly allows people to access travel information from their personal computers, enabling them to research and plan their own trips, make their own reservations and travel arrangements, get online boarding passes, and purchase their own cruise and airline tickets. As a result, demand will decline for the Vacation Planner who simply take orders, such as booking tickets for a specified date and time. Also, domestic airlines no longer pay commissions to travel agencies, which has reduced revenues and caused some agencies to go out of business.

This change in trend also has led many a Vacation Planner to begin charging fees for their travel service. To justify those fees, customers expect Vacation Planner to provide good service and travel expertise. Opportunities may be better for agents who specialize in specific destinations, luxury travel, or particular types of travelers such as ethnic groups or groups with a special interest or hobby. Many consumers still prefer to use a professional travel agent to plan a complete trip; to deal with some of the more complex transactions; to ensure reliability; to suggest excursions or destinations that might otherwise be missed; to save time; or, in some cases, to save money.

Several factors should offset the adverse effect of Internet travel arrangement and the loss of revenues from airline bookings. For example, spending on tourism and travel is expected to increase over the next decade. With rising household incomes, smaller families, and an increasing number of older people who are more likely to travel, more people are expected to travel on vacation—and to do so more frequently—than in the past. Business travel also should rebound from recession and terrorism-related declines as business activity expands. Business travel also should increase as U.S. businesses open more foreign operations and businesses increasingly sell their goods and services worldwide. In addition, luxury and specialty travel should increase among the growing number of Americans with the available time and money for these more expensive trips.

Another positive factor is the increasing affordability of air travel. Greater competition among airlines, especially from low-cost carriers, has brought airfares within the budgets of more people. In addition, Vacation Planners organize more tours for the growing number of foreign visitors. Also, a certified-vacation-planner often is able to offer various travel packages at a substantial discount to save you money!

The demand for travel is sensitive to economic downturns and international political turmoil, when travel plans are likely to be deferred. Therefore, the number of job opportunities for Vacation Planner fluctuates. However, the number of travelers has risen recently, possibly reflecting demand from consumers who delayed travel because of terrorism and safety concerns. Demand for travel remains volatile, though, and travel trends could easily change at any time.

Earnings of a certified vacationplanner who own their travel agencies depend mainly on commissions from travel-related bookings and travel service fees they charge clients. Often it takes time to acquire a sufficient number of clients to have adequate earnings, so it is not unusual for new and self-employed trabel-agents to have low earnings. Established travel agents may have reduced booking and lower income during cyclical economic downturns.