Why do you want to become a travel consultant, and how did you find out that this job is more about sales and documentation than about travelling yourself?

Situation

During my final year in BS Tourism Management, I completed a 400 hour practicum at a small travel agency in Quezon City. I originally took the placement because I loved travelling, but I was assigned to the back office helping encode booking details and prepare quotations.

Task

I had to help the consultants turn client requests into accurate itineraries and service vouchers, and I needed to understand why every small detail mattered even though I was not going on any of the trips myself.

Action

I started keeping a personal checklist for each booking, including names, dates, passport numbers, and payment deadlines. I sat with the senior consultants to listen to how they handled calls and responded to client concerns. I also tracked how often a well prepared quotation led to a closed sale, which made me see that the work was really about earning trust and meeting targets.

Result

By the end of my practicum, I had helped prepare over 60 booking files with zero encoding errors on my part, and the manager asked me to assist with follow-up calls to clients. That was when I knew I wanted to do the actual job, not just travel.