Of the many changes in our industry since the pandemic, one of the most striking is the explosion of independent consultants, or self-employed advisors.

It has given travel a whole team of new faces with many different backgrounds and talents. And allowed them to be entrepreneurs at the same time.

And while here at Direct Travel we recruit only ICs with strong travel advisor experience, I know there are many host agencies who actively seek out people who are new to the industry. If that sounds like you, please read on for some ideas on how you can ramp up your knowledge and expertise as quickly as possible!

1. Learn, learn, learn. Many newcomers are surprised to learn how complex the business can be: the diversity of travel offerings, the sophistication of the technology, the hierarchy of supplier relations. It’s so important that you devote some serious time, especially at the beginning of this new career to learning more about it all.  Just the vocabulary can be overwhelming. (FIT! VFR!  And what on earth is MICE travel?)

2. Seek out a mentor. Contact your host agency regarding finding a mentor to consult, rely on and hold your hand.

3. Familiarize yourself with your host agency policies and, very importantly, its preferred suppliers. Supporting those suppliers will make you more time efficient and profitable.

4. Though it seems a natural, try not to plan your entire business around friends and family clients. Read my previous column in Sphere about the pitfalls of this business model!

5. Think about specializing. It can be inefficient and time-consuming to be all things to all people, to go from researching a Mediterranean escorted tour to an adventure trip to Thailand all in the same morning. What is it you love to do? Golf? Cruise? Visit the Caribbean? Imagine the fun of combining your new passion with something you already love (and learning about it will be all that much more fun).

6. Learn how to be instantly more professional and efficient with Discovery Calls (also discussed in a previous column).

7. Always have business cards with you. You never know who might want one.

8. Say thank you. To your host agency colleagues. Your suppliers for doing a good job. To your clients for the bookings (it’ll also give you a chance to pick their brains on how the trip went!)

Again: welcome to our industry.  It’s going to be wild at times, a bit crazy at others, but always a fun new chapter in your life.