If you’ve been thinking about becoming a travel advisor, consider this your sign. You’ve likely heard more than a few daunting narratives about what the job entails. We aim to debunk these black-and-white edicts. Travel advising is hard work, and it’s also a ton of fun.
Read on for three myths you may have heard about becoming a travel advisor, and why they’re not true — at least not at Fora. Then, apply to become a Fora Advisor to get started.
Myth #1: You need to give up your full-time job or caretaking duties to become a travel advisor
Fora's booking platform allows you to book wherever, whenever
Fora offers a flexible career path that can be done full-time or part-time. Fora’s training programs are designed to meet people where they are in life (not the other way around), with asynchronous training schedules that are optimized for busy lives.
There are no sales quotas or fine print — book as much as you want, always on your terms. Plus, you can do your work from anywhere thanks to our integrated booking platform. (More than a few of our advisors have booked travel for clients while taxiing on a Tarmac.)
And if you want to book full-time? More power to you. Many travel advisors work full-time, planning dozens of trips at once. Others plan travel while maintaining their full-time job or working as a full-time parent.
Related Article: How to Become a Travel Agent: All Your Questions, Answered
Myth #2: You need to be a seasoned travel expert to become an advisor
While destination knowledge and planning experience is undoubtedly an asset, Fora’s training programs and regularly updated resources are designed to help you hit the ground running. The desire and willingness to learn, an entrepreneurial spirit and a roll-up-your-sleeves attitude are the most important qualities to success.
Fora’s flexible training programs welcome advisors from diverse backgrounds. We have different tiers, each covering different material, depending on where you’re at in your travel-advisor journey.
Our travel agent training program takes you through everything you need to build a thriving travel business you love. We’ll cover the ins and outs of booking, hotel perks, travel insurance and more. You’ll also be able to attend live training sessions and webinars covering subjects such as specific travel partners, far-flung destinations and marketing best practices to grow your business.
From there, you’ll have the option to progress to our Advanced training program, designed to take you and your travel-agent prowess to the next level. Our highest tier, Fora X, is for advisors who have surpassed a certain annual booking threshold and want to make Fora advising their full-time career.
Regardless of where you’re at, however, you’ll have a travel-obsessed community behind you, eager to help. Forum, Fora’s community app, is a treasure trove of knowledge. It’s where advisors and HQ members go to ask for help, share feedback, research and celebrate each other’s wins. In other words, the Fora community has your back every step of the way.
Myth # 3: You need an established network of clients to become a travel advisor
While many advisors join Fora with an existing clientele, it certainly is not required. In fact, the vast majority of our advisors start by booking travel for friends and family. From there, your network will inevitably grow. Word of mouth and referrals become your best friends.
Fora also provides marketing tools to attract clients. Fora Advisors can submit personal pieces of content in the form of guides, itineraries and trip reports, which our team then transforms into Google-optimized posts that live on your dedicated Fora profile (basically your personal website). These pieces of content are incredibly valuable marketing tools that showcase your expertise and attract clients from scratch. (They’re also great for sharing with your existing network.) Even better, each guide, itinerary or trip report has a clear call to action for a potential client to get in touch to book a trip, removing any friction.
All advisors can access these tools as soon as they join and set up their profile. Once they achieve Pro status — that is, once they’ve met specific booking criteria — they’ll be able to take advantage of Fora’s Client Lead Program. As part of this program, our in-house travel team feeds inbound website leads to our Pro advisor community, exposing them to a broader net of potential clients.
But again, wherever you’re at in your journey, Fora community is there to support you. In other words, you’re never alone.
Related Article: How to Get Clients as a Travel Agent: Fora's Top 3 Tips
Interested in joining us? Apply to become a Fora Advisor today.
