The Internship Experience at Travel Agency - Essay Example

? and Section # of Report about internship at Travel Agency The ------- was set up as a small, independent travel agency located in ------, Qatar. It has, since its inception, been actively in operation and over a very small period of time it has consistently grown into a well known travel agency amongst the corporate sector, writers, and most specifically frequent travelers who wish to attain premium consultancy and itinerary handling services for their travel routine. My internship experience was spread over a period of one month, in which I was expected to work alongside the Travel Service Specialist of the agency, in order to learn from the position holder himself, and gain ‘on the job’ experience. Though the formality of the internship entailed that it would be hardcore and an ‘on the job’ training experience, I realized it pretty soon that it was going to be a fun filled experience as well. The staff at ------ was very friendly and cooperative, and immediately induced in me the homey feeling of belongingness. As an intern I was assigned various tasks, the progress of which was supervised by the Travel Service Specialist. One of the things that I instantly learnt about my internship place was that each day would differ significantly from the last one, with every new prospective client entering the doors of the office; s/he would bring in an entirely different form of experience for me, and I realized that flexibility and openness to changes were the key characteristics required in any employee working at the agency. While there were a wide range of assignments given to me, there were also some routine tasks which I had to complete diligently and within time in order to prove my efficiency and activeness. The routine tasks included a weekly ‘destination update’ assigned to me, in which I had to file in all the travel related news pertaining to the travel destinations under their appropriate headings and keep the database up to date. This was a hectic task which required a lot of devotion and long hours, and consistent research work. Since I was working as an intern with the Travel Service Specialist, I was required to take into account all the work done by my head, and learn from the way he operates. He at times delegated tasks to me to mark my progress. I attained good hands on experience of issuing international tickets, and discovered that when it comes to spending money on international travel, people tend to be very suspicious about the agency they are dealing with, and hence inquire about every possible detail. In my numerous interactions with such clients I realized that the most important issue is the financial details regarding the travel. Every single time I quoted a figure for a Roundtrip expense, immediately after the prospective client had inquired about it, they would ask “is this the Roundtrip fare?”, which showed their uncertain attitude and unwillingness to rely completely on the travel agents where money is concerned, hence repetition of what had already been told became a routine issue. My responsibilities as an intern varied as mentioned earlier, apart from the weekly updates, the routine work comprised of a few more tasks. The front desk of the Visitor Center carried all the brochures of possible locations of travel and tour packages, pamphlets of hotel offers for tourists and new offers about any discounts offered to the travelers in any of our travel destinations. These were the visual and printed copies of the data I was responsible to file in the “destination update” database, and it served the purpose of being the promotional material for the agency as well. Any new person entering the agency first came to the “Visitor’s Centre”, where the receptionist had to listen and make notes of the demands of the visitor, be very presentable and amicable, and emanate the spirit of trust and reliability. The foremost duty was to make the visitor comfortable, for only a visitor who is comfortable in the environment would trust the agency and be willing to spend lots of money on the services provided. The visitor was then provided information in accordance with his/her demands, which included the most suitable time and ticket, the most conducive hotel for residence during the travel, the most efficient form of local travel and the best tour package at their disposal. Once the ‘visitor’ turned into a client and wanted to avail the services, that meant the fish was in the river. This was the last stage, once a visitor comes in, is attracted by the packages being offered at the “Visitor’s Centre” and decides to avail the services of the company; they then became a client, who are then assigned to a Travel Service Specialist who takes care of the entire details of their travel. This is where my supervisor came in. He was responsible for independently handling the complete travel itinerary details of a client, which included the issuance of international tickets, hotel bookings, tours, transport and facilities etc. This was the most hectic task in his job description and one which required a lot of patience and perseverance, as each client had different preferences and an utter lack of geographical knowledge, it took hours to explain to them what was located where and which hotel offered what specific services, and why is that we were recommending ‘that’ particular tour to them and not some other. This made me realize that patience is indeed a virtue and a minor slip could lead to a lost client, hence I knew that I would be required to manage all the possible calmness when I was instructed to deal with a client. Finally, towards the end of my internship, my works reached its final stage. I was expected to manage an entire travel profile for a client while I was being supervised, and this was supposed to be my passing task, and it would mark my final progress of the month. The client was employed in the education sector, no names since it is the policy of the company to be discreet and keep the client’s matters confidential. My duty was to arrange for the international tickets of the client for Turkey, and book him in a hotel, in addition, I had to reserve his place in the seminars and conferences he wished to attend during his stay there and devise up a tour package for him in collaboration with the Turkish tour agencies such that it coincided with the schedule of my client. I had to ensure the time table allowed for rest, meal times, included visits to historical places which were a demand of the client himself, and that overall the 3 days plan was completely managed. It was tough, hectic, and required monumental patience, but nevertheless it was rewarding. The final sense of accomplishment which came with the client being happy and paying for your services is what counted the most at the end of the day. I had to remain in full presentable form throughout my interaction with the client, exude an aura of being knowledgeable and reliable and show that I knew what I was doing. I was extremely apprehensive when I started my internship, with all the fears and uncertainty that a new employee possesses. The foremost fear was that my supervisor might not be happy and satisfied with my performance so he might not give me a gold star. It reminded me of my first day to a new class every year, where you are keen to impress an instructor and set a memorable first experience. It is very intimidating at the same time to enter an environment where you know nobody and are completely unaware of the expectations and standards of the work. In exchange for a hectic, patience-inducing, and fun filled one month, I hoped to attain experience, knowledge and most importantly, connections in the tourism and travel world. I also hoped to gain a first hand feeling of what it was like to work in an office setting, and ----- has fulfilled my expectations and given me everything I had hoped for and much more. The most challenging, and at the same time most frustrating part my internship was most definitely the task of remembering important people, and staying vigilant at work. I was given the opportunity to attend many meetings with my supervisor, and it was crucial to remember each person’s name, face, position and the company which s/he represented. Since in this travel industry, everybody is on very friendly terms with each other hence it was necessary to remember all those you had to interact with in order to strike a deal. This was extremely challenging as I was incessantly meeting new people from different organizations. It was important for me to motivate myself constantly, and fulfill the expectations of my supervisor, each day required of me to put in the best day’s work and offer to voluntarily work in projects, meetings and training. I was careful enough to discover that the time spent interning at the ----- was short, but it had the potential to, and it will, open many doors for my career in the future. Read More