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Holiday Representatives 1 - Activity
Holiday representatives' responsibilities
Use the following sources of information to find out the main responsibilities of holiday representatives:
- Career In Travel. Look at the links to 'real reps' stories', plus you can look at the rep chat forums to see what issues concern reps as they prepare for induction and the start of their Summer season jobs. (http://www.careerintravel.co.uk/holiday-rep-careers.htm)
- Prospects. Go to the links to find case studies of people who have 'been there, done that'. What do the experiences of people like Jenny tell you about what you can expect in different types of rep work?(http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Explore_types_of_jobs/Types_of_Job/p!eipaL?state=showocc&idno=235&pageno=8)
- Dealing with 'Aga Louts' - Confessions of a High Class Holiday Rep. (http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2006/may/14/greece.observerescapesection)
- Working as a holiday rep - Job specifications for working for an independent walking and cycling tour company. (http://www.headwater.com/all/work/rep-info.htm)
- Work as a holiday rep - advice from GapYear.com on becoming a holiday rep. (http://www.gapyear.com/features/work_as_a_holiday_rep.html)
 
The holiday rep has to keep the customers satisfied, whether they want constant entertainment or just a nice spot for a snooze in the sunshine. But that's not all - the rep has to be happy to deal with the finances, too. It's not as easy as it may sound! Copyright: Jan Willem Stad and Sanja Gjenero, both from stock.xchng.
Holiday reps' skills
Create a profile of the skills required to effectively perform the main roles and responsibilities of a holiday representative. Categorise your skills profile according to the following themes:
- Customer-facing communication
- Resort and service-provider communication
- Administration, money-handling and paperwork
- Health, safety and security
- Arrivals, departures and transfers
Fancy sorting out who's who amongst the crowds at an airport? You don't want anyone to miss the bus! Copyright: Maria Herrera, from stock.xchng.
Final questions:
- When should you start looking for a holiday rep job for the Summer season?
- Is this the final chance of getting this kind of work?
- Why might premium (top end of the market) resort rep work be as demanding as that in a mass market resort?
- What benefits are there in being a rep? Evaluate these in light of the 'low' wage traditionally received in this kind of work.
- Use the sources of information given earlier. Look into the training and induction sessions they run for budding reps. What might tour operators learn about their prospective employees at these events?
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