15.1 Introduction
In this final module we will look
at the main travel and tourism issues that you need to contend with when
you are looking at moving into this field for your career.Being aware of various issues in advance will mean that you are in a better position to deal with them before they really havethe chance to take hold. Remember, it is always going to be the case that you have to understand the industry to take those steps forward or else you run the risk of your career becoming stagnant.
15.2 The Main Issues That Will Arise During Your Career
Every industry has its problems and when you
are working within that field it stands to reason that you have to be able to cope with those issues as and when they occur.It is also in your best interest to be in a position whereby you can largely predict the problem before it occurs and tackle it head on.
A number of the issues that you will have to contend with may include the following:
An unhappy customer.
There are a number of ways in which a customer can be unhappy and clearly that means we are unable to cover each and every one. However, the general rule is that you need to get to the root of the problem as quickly as possible in order to prevent things from spinning out of control. An unhappy customer does not have to stay that way if you handle things correctly and indeed thanks to your knowledge and understanding of the industry it can actually become quite a skill to turn things around to your advantage.
Unable to provide what is expected.
Another common issue is being unable to provide what is expected of you from the customer. This can often be the point where the mood of the customer can change, and you are able to understand why, and it is the way in which you handle this situation that is important. Even though you will never be able to always give what they want it is always going to be the case that you should attempt to get as close to what they require as possible.
Lack of personal knowledge.
While it is inevitable that there will be a point where you are caught out by your lack of knowledge about something in the world, a general lack of personal knowledge is an issue that is entirely of your own making, and the crazy part is that it is so easy to avoid. Remember that a lack of knowledge is going to increase the chances of you having an unhappy customer and also makes you unable to offer the kind of service or experience the customer wants. It hardly bodes well for a successful career which is crazy considering all you have to do is to do the hard work at the outset.
Changes in trends.
We mentioned trends in another module, and changes in them can eventually lead to problems for yourself, especially if you are not focused on what is going on in and around the industry. Staying ahead of trends and preparing yourself for them in advance will certainly make your life so much easier.
Changes in the economy.
It is important to remember that
the travel and tourism industry is closely linked to the economy and indeed
the economy largely governs what people are able to do when it comes to
visiting new places and turning into tourists.
For example
During the economic downturn of a few years ago there were certainly more people staying at home (domestic tourists) or booking late deals due to the lower costs than those going to far flung corners of the world. While you may not be able to do anything about changes in the economy you can do something about how you react and the services or products that you go on to provide.
We are not saying that these are all of the issues that you have to contend with during your career in the
travel and tourism industry as that is certainly not the case. Instead, you are
going to have to cope with difficult people, difficult work colleagues, technical issues, budget constraints, mistakes in marketing,
bad experiences abroad - the list goes on and on. The harsh part is that most
of the issues will have nothing to do with you and are not your fault.
However, even keeping that point in mind it is still important that you are aware of how you tackle those issues and also how to make sure that you keep your head above water.
15.3 Staying Ahead of the Game
We just discussed some of the main issues that you are going to actually come across during your career.
There is one other thing that we need to look at, and that is how you then manage to effectively stay ahead of the game. Clearly this is something that should be of interest to you because of the way in which it will allow you to better understand the entire industry and also how to progress when it comes to your career.
We stated at the beginning of this module that it is best for you to be in a position to deal with the issue before it happens and indeed this is one way in which you can stay ahead of the game.
However, there are other important steps that you may wish to include in your approach to these issues just to stop yourself from being caught out.
Keep on top of what is going on in the industry.
If you are of the opinion that your training is over and it is all about just building experience, then think again. Instead, you have to understand that there is a very real need for you to keep on top of what is going on in the industry as this is the only way in which you can ever hope to stay ahead of the game. We spoke about trends in module 14 and it is worthwhile going back to that module and reading over it again to see how, and why, this is so important.
Be innovative.
Issues and problems are there to be overcome and it is how you handle those situations that is important. While you may be of the opinion that there is a need for you to follow protocol, it is also often the case that being innovative is actually more important. This freedom is going to allow you to swerve the issues that plague the industry and to handle problems as and when they occur while also thinking on your feet. Those that rise to the top are often more likely to be able to conjure up innovative and creative ideas to contend with problems and, as a result, they get further than their counterparts.
Learn from mistakes.
As with any industry it is always important that you learn from your mistakes and do so immediately. In addition, you need to spend time looking at the mistakes made by others, and by this we mean other service providers and not just your colleagues, to make sure that you do not follow suit.
Take calculated risks.
We are not saying that you should take risks at every given possibility, but rather weigh things up and be sensible. Those that get on in their career do tend to be the individuals that think about things and are willing to push the boundaries, as going that extra mile can sometimes not just resolve issues but even prevent them from happening in the first place. Pay attention to what is going on in the industry and take action before it is too late.
Once again, it is impossible for us to cover each issue and how you stay ahead of the game as so much has to be done on the spur of the moment. However, the way you react to situations will shape your entire career, which is why you need to spend some time not just learning the travel and tourism industry but also coming to terms with what you have to do in order to get on in your career.
How to Contend with Those Issues
Even though you may have an idea of the issues that could potentially pop up throughout your career, there is also a need for you to know how to contend with those problems should they actually arise in the first place.
Handling them correctly is going to make your life so much easier and even though it is difficult for us to cover each and every possible issue in this industry, there is no doubt that you can take certain key points into consideration that will help you along your way.
Open your ears.
There is no way that you are ever going to be able to deal with an issue if you are guilty of closing off your ears and not paying attention to the issue that you are facing. Open your ears and try not to talk as much as you perhaps usually do simply because this will stop you from misunderstanding something and making matters worse rather than resolving them.
Never believe that you know it all.
The person that believes that they know everything that there is to know about their industry will always be the individual that comes unstuck early on. Accept that you do not know everything about your industry and you will be able to make better progress as a result. Feeling that you know everything makes it harder to contend with issues as you become too restricted with how you deal with things. Accept you do not know everything and then deal with it accordingly.
Make sure you have solutions.
Whenever you are faced with an issue or a problem and your customer is unhappy, then you have to make sure that you do indeed have some kind of a solution available for them. Now, we are not saying that you need to have an immediate solution that will completely resolve everything straight away, but if you can at least tell your customer that you plan on doing A, B, or C and the result of that will be D, E, or F then they will at least feel that they have been heard and some kind of action is going to be taken. As you can imagine, this is going to reflect better on you, and they will certainly appreciate what you are trying to do for them.
Never attempt to bluff your way through it.
There will clearly be times where you are unable to offer the correct kind of solution, but that is not a bad thing. However, what is bad is if you then try to bluff your way through the moment in order to even just buy yourself time to get a resolution. Instead, it is always going to serve you better if you are honest when you are unaware of how to solve a problem and instead tell the customer how you need to speak to someone higher than you so they can then get what they are looking for.
Remember that the competition out there will quite happily steal your customer away from you and the public are aware that there are other companies out there that can perhaps give them what they want. Do not allow yourself to lose business just because you could not be honest.
Be careful about your motivation.
Finally, we advise you to be careful about your motivation when it comes to helping your customers. By all intents and purposes, it should be about providing them with the best possible experience and offering them something that fits their needs or desires no matter what that may be. That should be your motivation and the desire to do this should drive you on a day to day basis. Remember that providing these basic things will make it easier for you to progress in your career as you will hit the targets set for you, followed by working better with customers and giving them what they want.
15.4 Boosting Your Career at the End of the Day
Finally, we have to look at how you can use it to boost your career because there are very few people that want to just be stuck at the same level or in the same job throughout their life.
So, how do you manage to go and improve your career and actually get on in life?
It is important to remember that a huge part of the industry and the service or product that you provide is going to be related to the one thing: dealing with a problem or a request from an individual that you then have to resolve. In other words, to go ahead and boost your career it is always going to be best that you are a real problem-solver as well as a people person. If you are neither of those things then it is important that you learn those skills or else you will quickly become frustrated with the entire industry.
So, you have to think about the following points to make sure that you go ahead and have a successful career within the travel and tourism industry:
Learn how to handle people.
We just mentioned this, but knowing how to handle people will certainly make your life a whole lot easier. Throughout your time you will have to deal with a range of people, from those that know exactly what they want to those that turn up and only have an idea as to how much money they have available to spend. Being able to tackle this range of people makes your life easier.
Learn how to extract information.
There is a real art to asking questions in order to extract information that you can use to provide the kind of service or product that your customer is hoping to have. Indeed, learning how to deal with these situations will certainly mean that you hit your targets, provide better service to customers, and overall you will have happier customers which has to be the aim of the game. Learn how to get those details to make your life easier.
Learn everything you can about your part of the industry.
To provide the best possible service, and to also help with
any issues or problems that arise, it makes sense that you have to spend time really learning everything that you possibly can about your part of the industry. Now, it may be impossible for you to learn each part due to the sheer size of the industry, but this is certainly something where knowledge is going to provide you with an impressive amount of power. You never know what you are going to be asked at any point and if you constantly fail to have the answers, then that is hardly going to bode well for your career.
Never stop paying attention.
As we have already said in this module there is a very real need for you to continue to pay attention to the industry and to always keep on learning. Just believing that you know everything that there is to know will put you in an extremely difficult position and one that is going to really stop your career in its tracks.
Always pay attention. Always look at what your colleagues and competition are doing. Always remember that there is room for improvement with the service or product that you offer.
Get experience and take a chance.
This is more along the lines of general career advice, but be prepared to spend time at the bottom of the industry in order to pick up the experience that is essential for your career to be allowed to develop in the manner that it should go. However, once you have that experience behind you then you clearly want to do something with it and press on and take those chances that will allow you to move up the career ladder. Remember, this industry is extremely flexible when it comes to the opportunities that are out there so there is no reason why you should remain stuck in the one job for eternity.
In other words, to get on in your career within the travel and tourism industry, there has to be a desire for continual self-improvement and a realisation that you need to study, increase your knowledge, and build your experience. Throughout all of this you have to show that you are a real people person or you will run into countless problems that will become extremely difficult to overcome if left unattended for too long.
MODULE SUMMARY
In this module we have looked at the main issues that you may have to contend with during your career and how to then tackle them.
We have looked at a number of the issues throughout the course and the aim here has been to bring together the main concerns to make it easier for you to deal with problems and to not allow it to stall your career.
Remember, there are a number of opportunities out there for you within the industry and just because you may not be making the progress that you had hoped in one area does not have to mean that you are stuck there for eternity. The experience you have built up in one area can often be translated into somewhere else due to the skills that you will have brought through and the fact that the industry is so huge means there is no reason why your career has to come to an end.
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