This qualification provides the skills and knowledge for an individual to be competent in a range of well-developed retail travel sales and operational skills.
Work would be undertaken in a retail office or shopfront environment where the planning of customer’s travel and touring arrangements takes place.
The qualification reflects the role of skilled operators who apply a broad range of competencies in a varied work context, using some discretion and judgement and relevant theoretical knowledge. They may provide technical advice and support to a team.
Job roles
Individuals with this qualification are able to work in the retail travel sector, covering all types of retailers, including those that cover or specialise in leisure, corporate, domestic and international sales. At this level, retail travel personnel can operate in domestic or international sales and this qualification allows for both.
Possible job titles include:
travel consultant
tour desk consultant
international travel consultant
leisure consultant
corporate leisure consultant
corporate consultant
international corporate consultant
online consultant
mobile travel consultant.
Subjects
To achieve a Certificate III in Travel, 22 units must be completed:
all 15 core units
7 elective units:
a minimum of 3 elective units must be selected from the general electives listed below
the remaining elective units may be selected from this or another endorsed Training Package or accredited course
a maximum of 1 Languages other than English unit may be counted as an elective within this qualification.
In all cases selection of electives must be guided by the job outcome sought, local industry requirements and the characteristics of this qualification.
The qualification is suitable for an Australian apprenticeship pathway.
Entry Requirements
Not applicable.
Licensing Information
No licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements apply to this qualification at the time of endorsement.
Employability Skills
The following table contains a summary of the employability skills required by the tourism industry for this qualification. The employability skills facets described here are broad industry requirements that may vary depending on qualification packaging options.
Employability skill
Industry/enterprise requirements for this qualification include:
Communication
Communicating with colleagues, customers and tourism product suppliers to plan the customer’s travel itinerary; interpreting verbal and written information on tourism product conditions; determining and interpreting customer preferences to sell proactively and persuasively; empathising and negotiating acceptable solutions to customer problems and complaints; providing clear and accurate verbal and written information to customers and suppliers to ensure a positive tourism experience.
Teamwork
Working as a team member, giving and receiving instructions and understanding own lead role in selling tourism products and servicing the needs of the retail travel customer; supporting other team members in their role in providing quality sales and service delivery; respecting the cultural diversity of team members and seeking their assistance to service the culturally diverse needs of retail travel customers.
Problem solving
Anticipating problems that may arise with the customer’s travel arrangements; mitigating problems by planning and booking appropriate travel itineraries that adhere to suppler conditions and customer requests; identifying and clarifying the extent of problems and requesting assistance from team members, supervisors and suppliers in solving operational or customer service issues; using predetermined policies and procedures to guide solutions to customer or supplier problems associated with the sale of retail travel products.
Initiative and enterprise
Showing independence and initiative required to take a lead role in making travel sales and providing service that meets or exceeds customer expectations; identifying and discussing a range of tourism product and service concepts to improve existing product and service options for the retail travel agency.
Planning and organising
Collecting, analysing and organising customer, product and supplier information to allow for effective selling and efficient coordination of tourism product bookings; setting timelines, organising own work flow and using appropriate predetermined policies and procedures to guide the selling and booking processes.
Self-management
Understanding and complying with the legal responsibilities that apply to own role in selling tourism products; knowing own job role and responsibilities in selling and coordinating bookings for tourism products; organising own work time and priorities and seeking feedback and guidance from supervisors on success in effectively servicing the sales needs of retail travel customers.
Learning
Knowing the structure of, networks within, and sources of new information on the tourism industry to enable the sourcing of ongoing learning opportunities; proactively seeking and sharing information with colleagues on new tourism products, services and suppliers.
Technology
Understanding the operating capability of, selecting and using computer systems, software and information networks that assist in selling and coordinating bookings for tourism products.
Due to the high proportion of electives required by this qualification, the industry/enterprise requirements described above for each employability skill are representative of the tourism industry in general and may not reflect specific job roles. Learning and assessment strategies for this qualification should be based on the requirements of the units of competency for this qualification.