Travel Agent Resume: Examples & Job Description [2024]

Writing a travel agent resume is like planning a perfect gateway—every detail matters. Learn how to steer your career ship in the right direction with our travel agent resume examples and expert tips as navigation tools. This all-inclusive guide will show you how to write a perfect resume for travel agent jobs!

This guide will show you: 

• A travel agent resume sample better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a travel agent resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a resume for travel agent jobs.
• How to describe your experience on a travel agent resume to get any job you want.

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Travel Agent Resume Example

Okay, you’ve skimmed through the travel agent resume example above—our next stop is learning the art of resume formatting:

1. Format Your Travel Agent Resume Properly

Writing a resume for a travel agent is like the art of packing. When everything is present and in its place, you save plenty of time looking for things in your suitcase. The same goes for your resume, as the hiring managers are busy people.

Studies have shown that, on average, recruiters spend only 7 seconds looking at a resume. They expect to scan it for all the necessary data quickly. That’s why you don’t want to forget about any resume section, just as you wouldn’t like to forget your toothbrush when traveling. 

Here’s what your travel agent resume should consist of:

• An easy-to-notice resume header with necessary contact information. 
• A well-written and succinct travel agent resume objective or summary.
• A work experience section to showcase your key professional accomplishments.
• An education section to present your schooling.
• A skills section to list your most relevant abilities.
• Additional resume sections such as extra training, certifications, awards, foreign languages, and relevant hobbies and interests.

But—it’s not only what you pack into your resume; it’s also how you do it. Make Marie Kondo proud and format your resume the Zen and harmonious way:

• Go with the reverse-chronological resume format.
• Put a legible resume header at the top and fill it with your contact info. You can skip disclosing your address—it’s not required.
• Don’t go wild with the fonts in your resume. Stick to simple and legible ones, and don’t use more than two font styles: one for the resume headings and one for the resume body.
• Make your resume easy to scan by dividing it into clear sections and using easy-to-spot resume headings.
• Stick to the standard 1.15 line spacing and even resume margins on all sides.
• Save your resume as a PDF file unless the job ad states otherwise.

Now that you know how to format your resume, we can analyze what to put in the most essential part of any resume—the work experience section.

Read more: The 3 Best Resume Formats + Examples

2. Add Work Experience to Your Travel Agent Resume

Your encyclopedic knowledge of travel destinations is close to the omnipotent powers of Google Maps, and you know how to make your clients’ dreams of perfect holidays come to life.

Now it’s time you make the recruiters aware that you’re the answer to their prayers. You do that by crafting a perfect work experience section, as past travel agent job descriptions are one of the things that recruiters look first at.

This is how you turn your work experience section into a ticket to success:

• Stick to the reverse chronological order of your travel agent job descriptions—put your most recent job first.
• Make sure each entry consists of your job title, company name, anddates of employment.
• Don’t simply list all the travel agent responsibilities that you’ve held—focus on your most impressive work achievements instead and present them in up to 6 bullet points per entry. Present tangible results and quantify them whenever possible.
• Tailor your work experience section to the job ad you’re applying for. 
• Use action words to add impact to your travel agent resume.

Not sure how to formulate the bullet points in your resume work experience section? You can rely on the proven PAR (Problem-Action-Result) formula:

• Present a problem you had to deal with.
• Briefly describe the action you took.
• Mention the result that you achieved.

Okay, now let’s look at some examples so you’ll feel more confident when writing each travel agent job description for your resume work experience section.

Travel Agent Resume Example: Experienced Travel Agent Job Description

With a travel agent's work experience presented as in the correct example, you can easily target a job at top travel agencies. Resume layout? Check. Tangible results? Check. Every detail taken care of like at a luxury resort.

The bad example feels like a hectic last-minute camping trip with running water issues. There are no work accomplishments listed and only generic travel agent responsibilities. That’s not how you win a phone call for a job interview.

Travel Agent Resume Example: Entry-Level Travel Agent Job Description

This junior corporate travel agent has some pretty impressive work accomplishments under their belt. The first example highlights them well, sticking to best practices of resume formatting. It points out tangible results whenever possible. However, the second example lacks all that—it’s not detailed enough, and its structure makes it harder to skim.

Read more: Presenting Your Work Experience on a Resume—Full Guide

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3. Include Education in Your Resume for a Travel Agent

Education may be like a never-ending journey, but you should definitely show the recruiters which academic destinations you successfully conquered. If you have a few years of relevant work experience, then you should just briefly mention your highest level of education on your resume. Include the field of study, the graduation date, and the name of the school or college.

But—if you’re writing a resume with no experience, expand on your educational background and list things like relevant coursework, favorite subjects, memberships, and extracurricular activities. If you have any academic achievements, such as graduating with honors, making the Dean’s list, or having an exceptionally high GPA, mention them too.

Travel Agent Resume Example: Education

Pro Tip: Even if you didn’t graduate, you can still mention your unfinished education on your resume. Check our detailed guide on how to do that: How to Include Unfinished College Degree on Resume

4. Present Your Travel Agent Skills

Your customer service charisma is unparalleled; you speak fluent Clientese and can make even the most big-scale travel dreams come true. It’s time you book a ticket to your dream career destination by dazzling the recruiters with your superhero powers, aka relevant skills of travel agents.

So, how do you get the recruiters lining up to ask for a fast track to a job interview with you? First, reread the job ad and treat it like a map of skills-related keywords hidden in plain sight. Next, explore your work experience and education sections to identify all the relevant hard and soft skills you’ve acquired in your past jobs or at school.

Now, create a compound list of all your travel agent skills. It can look something like this:

Sample Travel Agent Skills

• Strong Sales and Marketing Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Excellent Verbal and Written Communication Skills
• Effective Negotiation
• Proficiency in Computer Reservation Systems
• Problem-Solving
• Attention to Detail
• Organizational Skills
• Time Management and Task Prioritization
• Knowledge of Domestic and International Travel Trends
• High-End Itinerary Planning
• Booking and Reservation Expertise
• Vendor Management Software Proficiency
• Budgeting and Accounting
• Logistical Planning
• Travel Consulting and Reservations
• Transportation Coordination
• Event Planning
• Customer Service
• Corporate Travel
• Travel Regulations and Documentation
• Travel Insurance Knowledge
• Familiarity with Travel Industry Trends and Technology
• Adaptability Skills and Flexibility
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
• Conflict Resolution Skills
• Relationship Building and Management Skills

Your master list of travel agent skills is like a catalog of dream travel destinations. It’s time to compare it against a specific job offer. After all, you wouldn’t offer a city break to someone dreaming of exotic holidays, right? Apply the same logic here and pick 5–10 soft and hard skills that best match the requirements from the job description.

Travel Agent Skills: Resume Example

Pro Tip: Make your travel agent resume feel as harmonious as a stay at a 5-star hotel, and ensure that your work experience section illustrates your skills. If they don’t, rephrase them slightly to reflect your competencies better.

5. Stand Out With Additional Resume Sections

Additional resume sections are like extra recommendations you give your clients to make their stay truly unique. How can you make the most of the extra sections to make your travel agent resume shine? 

If you’re an experienced candidate, focus on things directly related to your professional industry. Have you spoken at some conferences or received any awards? Be sure to mention them.

To boost your attractiveness to potential employers and clients alike, you can decide to acquire industry-specific certifications, such as the IATA Travel Agent Accreditation, as well as many other certifications issued by The Travel Institute and other organizations.

If you’re just starting as a travel agent, you may think that additional resume sections are not for you. On the contrary! The extra sections are even more critical when writing a resume with barely any experience. You can fill them with academic awards, relevant hobbies and interests, and volunteer activities.

Travel Agent Resume Samples: Additional Sections

Pro Tip: On a federal level, you don't need to get certified to work as a travel agent in the U.S. However, some states require you to get a Seller Of Travel certification to fulfill your travel agent duties in accordance with the law. Remember that even if you don’t work in any of those states but serve clients who live there, you still need to get a SOT certification.

6. Write a Travel Agent Resume Objective or Summary

The best travel itinerary descriptions present all the main benefits in just a few sentences. The same goes for a good resume personal profile. It’s supposed to catch and hold the recruiter’s attention by listing your unique selling points. 

A personal profile, or a resume personal statement, should list in 3–6 sentences the most relevant information about you. You should always tailor this part of your resume to the job description. 

But first, start with choosing what type of personal profile you should choose.

• If you’re starting out or writing a career-change resume, go with a travel agent resume objective. It focuses more on your skills than work experience.
• Are you an experienced candidate? Don’t write an objective for your travel agent resume; choose a summary instead. It will allow you to showcase your work accomplishments better.

To write an excellent summary or objective for your travel agent resume, rely on the tried-and-tested formula below:

Start with a powerful adjective that describes you as a professional travel agent. Then, mention your job title. Now, reread your resume and pay attention to your most important work or academic accomplishments.

If you’re writing a resume summary, mention how many years of experience you have and 2–3 most impressive work accomplishments. When writing a resume objective, replace this part with your most relevant skills (you can mention transferable skills) and academic achievements.

In both cases, finish with how you plan to add value to the company you’re applying to. Check out the examples below to see how it looks when applied in real life.

Travel Agent Resume Summary Examples

If this candidate designed a travel package for me, I’d take it without a question. A recruiter may ask them a few questions, but they’ll be during a job interview, that they’ll for sure get thanks to an impressive travel agent resume summary like this one.

Me, me, me… Everything in this resume summary focuses on the candidate’s needs, and they pay no attention to the needs of the company they’re applying to.

Travel Agent Resume Objective Examples

This travel agent resume objective is a good example of leveraging your academic background and relevant skills to get your first dream job in the travel industry. It’s to the point, short, and sprinkled with the correct dose of enthusiasm.

This is not how you craft an objective for a travel agent resume. The candidate offers no tangible value and just wants to benefit from the company’s resources to realize their goals.

Pro Tip: A resume profile may be on top of your resume, but it doesn’t mean it’s one of the first resume sections you should create. On the contrary—always write it at the very end. It will make the whole process infinitely easier!

7. Attach a Cover Letter to Your Travel Agent's Resume

When applying for a job, you know that you must send a resume. But you may think that sending a cover letter is an extra effort you don’t need. Wrong. Granted, some recruiters don’t care about cover letters, but many expect to receive them even if the job ad claims it’s optional.

Don’t sabotage your resume for travel agent jobs by skipping the cover letter. Write a concise cover letter and make the most out of every paragraph. Don’t repeat the information from your resume, and prove to the recruiter that you’ll be a valuable addition to the company.

A well-written cover letter may turn out to be your passport to success. You should always attach a cover letter to your resume, as the two are as inseparable as sunscreen and exotic vacations!

Read more: How to Write an Excellent Cover Letter?

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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Key Takeaways

Now you know everything about writing a travel agent resume. Let’s sum up the most important steps:

• Formatyour resume properly in reverse chronological order.
• Present your work experience focusing more on accomplishments than simply travel agent responsibilities.
• Mention your educational background and expand on it if you have little professional experience.
• Prove you’re the one for the job by highlighting your relevant skills and using the additional resume sections well.
• Write an attention-grabbing resume objective or summary; don’t forget to attach a cover letter.

Thanks for reading my article! If you have any insights you’d like to share or questions, please leave a comment in the comments section!

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Sources

• https://www.theladders.com/static/images/basicSite/pdfs/TheLadders-EyeTracking-StudyC2.pdf
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2020/06/17/12-things-recruiters-look-at-first-when-going-through-job-applications/?sh=216e6ea62e8c
• https://www.iata.org/en/services/travel-agency-program/accreditation-travel/