Statement of Attainment from the Certificate III in Tourism (Retail Travel Sales) SIT30207
Travel Agent Licensing & Starting a Travel Business
Diploma TAG08, IATA Fares & Ticketing I: Part 1
Galileo/Sabre/Amadeus Certification
Hospitality, Tourism & Events
Learning Method: Correspondence with online support

This course has been developed to meet the industry requirements to start a travel business and the national standards required to apply for a travel agent's licence. It is packed with practical real-life activities and you will have real industry projects to undertake. In addition, you can access the online activities in the eLearning Centre to further practise and test your knowledge and skills. And you can talk with other students from all over the country in the Student Forum.

Materials: Your course includes College folder and student case, unless you are undertaking your course online, all modules (tutorials and assignment projects), textbooks, learning tools, tutor feedback and marking, College support, progressive Transcripts of Study, Graduate Awards and final Academic Transcripts, access to the eCampus, eNews, Student ID Pass, and access to educational discounts.

Have you worked as a travel consultant or have you completed a travel course?

Do you know what a backhaul fare is?

Can you prepare holiday itineraries and quotes?

Can you make a domestic fare booking?

Did you answer "yes" to these questions? Would like to run your own travel agency?

For anyone who has worked in travel the next step is to become a licensed travel agent and start your own travel agency.

Many people set out to start their own business but one of the most important factors with business is to do your homework!
You may have worked for 12 months in a travel agency as a consultant or you may have worked for 12 years, either way if you want to set up your own agency you are going to need to know more about travel than just domestic and international ticketing.

Managing your own agency can be incredibly exciting, rewarding and a lot of fun, but if you don’t know the fundamentals of operating a business then you are possibly setting out on a rocky path.

Every person is different and the pathway to achieving success is different for each, but there are a few significant things that every person must have. These include:

• An understanding of the legal and ethical requirements of running a travel agency
• Knowledge of the financial aspects of setting up a business
• Clear objectives and a plan for building the business
• A knowledge of the critical elements needed for operating in the travel industry

Without these things, and the planning and preparation that go into starting any business, your travel agency might not get off the ground.

Consider the story of Don and Margaret, a husband and wife team from South Australia. Don had no previous experience in travel while Margaret had been working as a consultant for eight years. When Don and Margaret decided to set up a travel agency business neither of them had any previous business experience, but they thought with Margaret’s background they’d be able to get by. However, after trying to stumble their way through the set up, learning from their mistakes as they went, they realised they made a fatal flaw—they hadn’t planned properly and they hadn’t done any study on setting up a business. It cost them their savings and their dream. Looking back, what would they have done differently? Both agreed, without hesitation, that they would have undertaken a course and learnt more about the business aspects before diving into their own travel agency.

The Travel Agent Licensing & Starting A Travel Business Course gives you an insight into what you need to know before setting out. The course, written by a travel agent who runs a travel business, teaches you about the legal and ethical requirements, cost structures and how to generate an income from your agency, the resources you will need and how to plan for staff, the systems you will need to set up, how to negotiate agency deals, the marketing approaches you need to consider and where to source brochures.

This comprehensive fares and ticketing unit meets the Travel Agents Licensing requirements for application to the Department of Fair Trading in all Australian States and Territories. The following is from the Department of Fair Trading in NSW:

Manager's qualifications

No particular educational qualifications are necessary to hold a licence.
The main requirement is that you are a fit and proper person to hold a travel agent's licence. However, you must have a suitably qualified person in charge of each place at which business is conducted. This person may be the licensee or can be a person employed by the licensee.
Where the travel agent's business involves the sale of tickets or the arrangement of rights of passage for international travel or international travel and accommodation, the person in charge of the day-to-day business must have the following prescribed qualifications and/or experience.

1. Successful completion of Unit of Competency THTSOP20A or SITTTSL013A provided or assessed by a registered provider within the meaning of the Vocational Education and Training Accreditation Act 2005

or

2. A total of 1 years' experience over the preceding 5 years in:

• selling tickets or arranging rights of passage for international travel or international travel and accommodation
• employed as the person in charge of the day-to-day conduct of a place of business of a travel agent licensed under the Act or a corresponding Act that involves the selling of tickets, or the arrangement of rights of passage, for international travel or international travel and accommodation.

There is no need for the person in charge of the day-to-day business to have any qualifications and/or experience if the travel agent's business only involves travel arrangements within Australia.