Travel Consultants assist persons interested in taking vacations, business trips or any type of visits to a different destination. They assess their clients’ needs, budgets, likes and dislikes to make appropriate recommendations. Consultants use their connections to hotels, car companies, and airlines to get the best deals available.
Consultants must have extensive knowledge on a number of areas. This includes:
• Weather and climate
• Local and international geography
• Customs regulations
• Airline policies
• Travel documentation including visas, and passports
• Health and vaccinations
• Currency and exchange rates
• Travel advisories
Travelling to vacation destinations is also a part of a Travel Consultants job. This allows them to learn firsthand about the accommodations, and travel experience their clients will go through. This usually allows them to recommend these destinations more readily.
A Travel Consultant usually performs many of the following tasks:
• Making reservations
•  Providing quality service
•  Calling airlines
• Following up on travel reservations
• Answering client queries
•  Entering data into computer applications
• Booking hotel rooms and car rentals

Expertise in the following areas is an asset:
• Being bilingual or multilingual
• Being computer literate
• Being organized
• Being professional and punctual
• Being a good listener
• Being flexible and able to manage different work shifts
• Being socially aware
• Communicating effectively in the written and oral form
• Handling administrative responsibilities
• Providing excellent customer service
• Time management
• People management
• Managing interpersonal relationships
• Networking

The educational requirements for a career in Travel Consultancy are not especially extensive. Many in this area start out with only High School Diplomas. They then take the opportunity to increase their work experience and later continue their education. Having higher levels of certification is always advantageous; especially in hopes of job advancement.
Most of the knowledge and skills required to perform competently in this job is learned with hands on training. However pursuing a Business, Foreign Language, Hospitality or Tourism Bachelors or Masters Degree is always helpful. Employers will look at candidates with these qualifications more favorably.