Travel Agent Tips: How To Become A Product Specialist

The most successful travel agents are those that have been able to capture a small niche and make it their own. Travel is one of the largest consumer industries in the world, and it is filled with a lot of noise and competition. If you try to be a pro in every category of the market, you can easily get lost or find it extremely difficult to capture a loyal following.

It is my belief that the only way for you to be extremely successful as a travel agent, is for you to find a product or a destination that you can be a specialist of and make it your singular focus. Intuitively you may think that the more options you can offer, then the more clients you will find. If you should talk to handful of extremely successful travel agents, you will find the opposite is true. The smaller and more underserved the niche, the better.

Here is a step-by-step guide on what you need to do to become a Product specialist. We will assume that if you are reading this post, you are already a certified travel specialist. If not, the first thing you need to do is get certified and join a host agency. Once you have completed that process, you are ready to become a product specialist.

Step 1: Learn The Market

As stated above, the Travel market is extremely big, filled with several different types of vacation experiences and different reasons for people to travel. Before you can become a specialist of any product, or category, you should at least try to find out all the different ways consumers are spending money on travel. Find out the top reasons why people travel, the most popular destinations, and the various types of vacation experiences.

Step 2: Identify Where You Fit In

If you are going to specialize in something, it is important that it is something that you can love and be passionate about. Marketing that product will be way easier when you can be excited and speak passionately about it to your clients.

Step 3: Identify An Underserved Area Of Your Niche

It will be next to impossible for you to find a category of the travel market that is not already being served by other travel specialists. To make yourself standout among the rest, try to find a niche within a niche. For example, if you have selected Jamaica as your niche market, then you may want to look even further and see what attractive parts of the Jamaica travel market are still underserved or under-promoted. Your niche could be, “Luxury Vacation Rentals In Jamaica.”

Step 4: Learn Your Product

Before you can be recognized as a specialist, you have to learn your product so you can speak about it from experience and research. Get yourself signed up for a product familiarity trip (FAM Trip) or call the vendors of the products you will be selling and request a site inspection. Go online and read reviews to see what clients are saying about you niche. Talk to other experts, request product training videos from vendors and your host agency. Arm yourself with all the answers to the possible questions your clients may have.

Step 5: Market Your Niche Product

Now that you have selected your niche and you have equipped yourself with all the right tools and information, it is time to market yourself as a specialist of that niche. Find out who are the people paying for the products you are trying to sell and promote yourself in areas they congregate. Use social media, trade shows, networking events, social gatherings and any outlet you can find to let others know about your specialty product.