Updated Curriculum and New Corporate Travel Advisor Training in Store for 2023
IRVING, TX (October 30, 2022) – Travel Leaders of Tomorrow, the leading travel advisor training school that is part of travel industry powerhouse Internova Travel Group, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2023 with plans to refresh its curriculum and introduce a new training module for corporate travel advisors.
Currently, Travel Leaders of Tomorrow offers two programs: Independent Learner and Virtual Campus. Independent Learner is an online-only program where students can go through lessons at their own pace. Travel Leaders of Tomorrow’s most popular option, the Virtual Campus, brings together cohorts of students for instructor-led sessions, guest lectures, virtual study halls and a final business plan presentation. Since its inception, Travel Leaders of Tomorrow has had over 2,000 people finish the course and become travel advisors, both as independent consultants and employees for existing travel agencies.
Throughout the pandemic, the demand for Travel Leaders of Tomorrow remained. “The popularity of becoming a travel advisor has grown in recent years, and Covid did not affect interest in the profession,” said Jackie Friedman, CTC, CTIE, Dean of Travel Leaders of Tomorrow. Friedman is also President of Nexion Travel Group, North America’s premier host agency that is part of Internova Travel Group. “In fact, the pandemic brought to light the horrors of travel disruption, raising the value of travel advisors, who stepped in for clients and saved the day.”
Many people also learned new skills during quarantine. The travel slowdown allowed new advisors to focus on their training and go through programs like Travel Leaders of Tomorrow. “It was actually a very good time for people to start their career in travel,” continued Friedman. “Our students have always been strong, but over the last few years, new entrants to the industry have brought a tremendous amount of passion and hope. Attributes like a love of travel, a desire to be in a helping profession, and a passion for being a small business owner makes the travel advisor profession very attractive to a variety of people. We are finding that Travel Leaders of Tomorrow attracts people who might have never even considered this as a profession—yet they have all the right attributes and just need some education and support to becomes successful travel advisors. ”
Travel Leaders of Tomorrow’s participants come from a wide variety of backgrounds, from recent college graduates to those pursuing an encore career after retirement. Its flexible schedule is especially popular with those currently working a day job and looking for a side gig. Approximately 50% of the people who have gone through the program are under the age of 40.
Savannah Hill, owner of The Savvy Travel Agency went through the program in 2016, and attributes much of her success to it. “As a new travel advisor, I needed guidance and education,” Hill said. “Travel Leaders of Tomorrow gave me a framework for learning the travel industry and a support group of fellow new advisors. Their faculty were also a key part of my development, teaching the curriculum that helped me understand how to run a travel agency.”
“Young people see this as a viable career, and they are some of our strongest graduates,” notes Friedman. “Because of their age, they often have a younger clientele, meaning that more and more of Millennials and Gen Z are seeing travel advisors are a very normal and expected part of booking travel.”
In celebration of Travel Leaders of Tomorrow’s upcoming 10th anniversary, anyone who attends the New York International Show on Oct. 29 or 30, and visits the Travel Leaders of Tomorrow booth (Booth 738), is eligible to receive $100 off the first education module. To learn how to become a travel advisor, please visit www.TravelLeadersofTomorrow.com.
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About Travel Leaders of Tomorrow
Started in 2013, Travel Leaders of Tomorrow, the award-winning travel advisor training program, is a joint initiative between Internova Travel Group and select travel industry partners to attract new talent into the travel agency community and ideally place them in Internova Travel Group’s wholly-owned, franchised or member based agencies. Education is offered in two learning tracks: Virtual Campus, which includes virtual study and weekly lessons from travel industry experts, and Independent Learner, which allows students to take the course at their own pace, with lessons and quizzes provided online.
About Internova Travel Group
Internova Travel Group is one of the largest travel services companies in the world with a collection of leading brands delivering high-touch, personal travel expertise to leisure and corporate clients. Internova manages leisure, business and franchise firms through a portfolio of distinctive divisions. Internova represents more than 70,000 travel advisors in over 6,000 company-owned and affiliated locations predominantly in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, with a presence in more than 80 countries.