Company: GTMC - Business Travel
Type: Business Travel Training
Duration: Unlimited
Location: Online
Cost: £10.00
One of the interesting things about working as a business travel consultant is that you never know where your client might want to go, so places unfamiliar to you can come up all the time.
It is impossible to know all the details about all the countries of the world, even for those who have worked in business travel for many years
A junior recruit into a business travel centre may start their employment working on simple journeys in the UK, until they become competent and progress onto more complex itineraries. However, many TMCs expect junior staff to be able to handle complicated travel arrangements straight away.
Many TMCs give candidates a ‘geography test’ as part of an interview, with varying degrees of success – together with good customer service skills, geographical knowledge is seen as a primary requirement for employment within business travel. However, locational Geography is rarely taught at school, unless a pupil has taken any of the travel and tourism programmes now available up to GCSE or Diploma Level.
Most business travellers know something of the destination they need to get to – they may know more about it than the travel consultant who is handling the booking! Business travellers differ from leisure travellers in that they may have little or no time for sightseeing. They need to get to their place of business by the most convenient route, in the shortest time (and usually, at the cheapest available fare).
They will expect the consultant to be able to access as quickly as possible the routes to the city / town they are visiting or other destination gateway, and to provide accurate information about the journey.
Computerised reservations systems are programmed to work out the route from origin to destination – a consultant does not even need to know where in the world the destination is located.
But, what happens when the computer ‘goes down’? How then do you find out where a place is, or what time it is there, and the type of climate it has?
The starting point might be to ask a colleague, but if that isn’t possible an atlas is the most reliable source – either an on-line website or a paper resource.
Those of you studying for the Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) qualifications may possess a copy of the GTMC World Travel Atlas, published by Columbus Press, which is an invaluable resource, and includes the following information that may be of importance to the business traveller:
- Detailed maps of the Countries included in the Atlas
- Climate
- Time zones
- Areas of Health Risk
- Airport Locations
- Flight journey times (approximate)
- Railways and Ferry routes
- Country Listing A to Z (additional information)
Most atlases are relatively easy to read, and many contain a “How to Use” guide. This one contains a table of contents that clearly directs the reader to the start page of each section, and there is a comprehensive index.
There is much, much more in this Atlas, which is proving to be an invaluable information resource in Business Travel Centres and is also widely use by Colleges and University students on Travel and Tourism programmes..
Of course, there are many other Atlases, but this is the main one used by TMCs, several of whom were involved in its original conception.
What next?
Click on purchase below and sign up. Then, read through the Module topics several times. When you feel confident, take the on-line multi-choice test. On successful completion GTMC will issue a Certificate of Achievement.
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