Booking to Breakthrough: Travel Advisor Education in the Digital Age

Travel Weekly

11 hours ago

Travel is experiencing enormous change, from new business models and distribution channels to emerging technologies and evolving traveler preferences. Add economic, social and climate volatility to that fast-moving train, and it's no surprise that travel advisors require consistent, practical and high-quality education and training to be successful.
In the digital age, the role of travel advisors has transformed, placing continuous education in the spotlight. "Today's travelers expect personalized service and insider access at digital speed. Between emerging AI tools, constantly evolving travel policies, and growing demand for authentic experiences, advisors must be more informed and strategically minded than ever before," says Henley Vazquez, co-founder and CEO of Fora Travel, a New York-based travel network.
What advisors need to know
To be truly competitive and profitable, travel professionals need to go wide and deep. That includes learning about booking mechanics, platforms and supplier ecosystems, storytelling (AKA marketing), running a business, managing customer relationships, integrating technology and identifying trends.
Many advisors specialize in destinations (Disney properties, for example) and niche travel — accessible, LGBTQ, senior, women-only, luxury, cruise, wellness, green or adventure — is also booming. But, says Sara Stecker, founder and owner of Travel Advisors Unlimited in Jacksonville, Florida, such expertise shouldn't come at the expense of broad knowledge. "I firmly believe every agent has to specialize in something but also be able to book anything."
When entering the field, would-be travel advisors needn't worry about having a four-year degree in travel and tourism. "Is it helpful? Yes, but not critical," Stecker says. She looks for three things when she interviews job candidates:
Listening skills—allowing clients to do the majority of talking with the intent of learning what they want from their travel experience and establishing a relationship with them.
Creativity - "thinking outside the box," Stecker explains, so advisors can go beyond the standard "go-to" destinations and offer opportunities that inspire clients.
Dedication - understanding that advising travel is a labor-intensive job requiring agents to always be available to clients, even in the evenings, on weekends or while on vacation.
Why continuous education is critical
To perform at a high level, travel advisor education is essential. Travel is competitive and maintaining an advisor's reputation is crucial for client retention. The travel landscape is complex, with many destination options, ways to access travel opportunities — booking direct, using online travel agencies, choosing short-term rentals over traditional hotels, joining travel clubs, taking organized tours versus "winging it" — and risks of changes, delays and cancellations.
How travelers acquire travel information is rapidly changing. Social video (Google, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram) has become a primary tool for younger travel customers to discover destinations and book travel. Consumers see user-generated content as more authentic, outperforming professional campaigns in engagement. Thus, mastering those platforms and producing the content is key to growing a customer base.
The travel industry is also very dynamic. "Today's travelers expect personalized service and insider access at digital speed. Between emerging AI tools, constantly evolving travel policies, and growing demand for authentic experiences, advisors must be more informed and strategically minded than ever before," says Fora Travel's Vasquez.
Plus, the information symmetry between customers and advisors has shifted. Dic Marxen, president and CEO of Fort Worth, Texas-based CCRA, stresses that today's travelers are more tech-savvy and well-informed than in the past. "When customers come to us, they've already been on the web, and they may even have used our engaged AI. That already puts them ahead of the curve, and [advisors] have got to be even further ahead of that," he explains.
Essential training hubs for travel advisors
Travel advisors have a variety of education opportunities. The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) provides the Verified Travel Advisor (VTA) certification, which focuses on legal frameworks, ethics, agency relationships and regulatory requirements. The Travel Institute is behind the Certified Travel Associate (CTA), Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) and Travel Agent Proficiency (TAP) exams for increasing levels of professional experience. CLIA, the Cruise Lines Industry Association, offers the Certified, Accredited and Master/Elite Cruise Counselor certifications.
Tourism boards/destination management organizations frequently deliver presentations to travel advisors on the destination they represent. Travel Advisors Unlimited's Stecker invites such groups to educate her advisors via weekly webinars. Afterward, she challenges the agents to put the learning to work with tasks like developing a pro forma client quote using the information and resources the presenters make available.
Travel agent networks are organized communities of agents and/or advisors that share resources, benefits and partnerships. Most such consortia offer in-depth training to members too. Fora Travel, for instance, provides advisors with education on booking and logistics, client communication, business development and destination knowledge through its certification programs, daily labs, on-demand resources and a community app where advisors share successes, troubleshoot challenges and support each other.
In-person conferences, such as GTM North America and live events produced by member-based organizations, such as ASTA's Travel Advisor Conference and CLIA's Cruise360, offer advisors professional development and networking. Some travel advisor networks also produce face-to-face events for their affiliates, including Travel Leaders Network (EDGE Conference), Virtuoso (Travel Week) and CCRA (PowerSolutions Live Events).
Suppliers also play a crucial role in educating advisors. Travel Insured International (TII), a leading travel insurance provider, helps deepen travel advisor expertise with accessible, interactive and engaging training covering topics such as licensing laws, rules for offering travel protection, travel insurance products, filing claims, coverage types, plans and guidance on presenting travel protection product options confidently and ethically.
TII supports advisors through webinars, downloadable tools, a training video library, an advisor newsletter, dedicated account managers, regional boot camps and its Travel Advisor Certified Specialist Program. "What we've learned through our certification program is profound — technology creates efficiency, but training creates confidence. Together, they're helping advisors evolve from order-takers to strategic protection partners who can transform every client conversation into an opportunity for both service and growth," explains Christine Peruccio, assistant vice president sales and marketing support and Travel Insured International's certified specialist program manager.
Travel advisor training of the future
Technology of all kinds will figure prominently in future travel advisor learning programs; however, it needs to align closely with well-honed, human skill sets. "Technology is the enabler, but training is the differentiator—Travel Insured International's approach ensures advisors are equipped to provide both expertise and empathy," Peruccio says.
So far, Dic Marxen says, the industry is evolving its education and training apace. "I don't see any new training facilities, offerings or programs coming up or being added. I do, however, feel very strongly about the ones already there." Marxen envisions a future in which education is agile (accessible and self-paced), condensed (appealing to advisors' time constraints) and expansive (covering the growing list of niche topics).