Originally Posted by
pricesquire
In Virtuoso land, we call ourselves advisors....
People I meet, when I tell them I'm an travel advisor, laugh, usually making a remark along the lines of "that's just fancy talk for an agent"
I find that my work is 90% advising/consulting, and 10% bookings...I spend most of my time researching, doing property visits, giving advice/recommendations....and very little time actually calling hotels to book stays.
I think it very much depends on what different people are looking for. The first exceptional trip to London or Paris or similar - I think you can do a whole lot. OTOH - my brother likes to take dive trips in exotic destinations. He's been doing it for 3-4 decades - and often his "hotel" is a boat. You won't be able to book his trips like he does.
Also - unless you're charging for your advising/consulting (which many travel agents do these days) - you're not going to make it financially - at least not here where we both live in the metro JAX area. People will pick your brain - and then find the cheapest place to do/buy what you recommend. Especially older people (my father and his friends - 80+ - are ridiculously cheap IMO and not adverse to "milking the cow" for free - and then buying better deals elsewhere). FWIW - I am not into "show rooming" - or whatever the TA equivalent is. But most people don't share this ethical bias of mine. Robyn