Holiday representative
A holiday representative is responsible for looking after groups of clients on package holidays at resorts.
Their main priority is to ensure that clients enjoy their holiday and that everything runs as smoothly as possible for them. As the public face of the tour operator, they must create an excellent first impression and continue to provide outstanding customer service to clients throughout the duration of their stay.
The role involves holding welcome meetings, handling complaints and resolving problems as they arise.
Holiday representatives are often also responsible for selling resort excursions and additional services, such as car hire.
There are different types of holiday representatives, including customer service, family, children's and club representatives. Work activities vary slightly depending on the specific role and the tour operator but will typically include some or all of the following:
Salary data from People 1st, 2011.
Working as a holiday representative does not usually require a degree/HND or any specific qualifications. Relevant skills and personal qualities are more important. Most tour operators seek candidates with experience of working in a customer service or travel and tourism role.
Although it is not required, a degree in one of the following subjects may be useful to the role:
While they are not a specific entry requirement, many tour operators do value additional language skills. This is particularly the case in countries where English is not widely spoken, as the holiday representative will often act as a link between the local community and tourists.
Experience of customer care, selling, dealing with large groups and working/travelling overseas is desirable. Employers will look to see if candidates can work in a public-facing role and therefore any evidence of that is very useful. Those who want be a children's representative should have some relevant experience in childcare and to be a qualified representative they should hold an NVQ Level 3 (or equivalent) in childcare.
Potential candidates need to show evidence of the following:
Most tour operators recognise the Holiday Rep Ticket Diploma online training course. It is made up of 12 modules, with a test at the end of each and covers all aspects of being a holiday representative as well as the recruitment process. It can therefore help prepare potential candidates before they apply for holiday representative jobs.
Applications are usually accepted throughout the year but it is best to apply between October to March for the summer season and April to November for the winter season. Many tour operators recruit high season representatives to work during the busy summer months of June, July and August. These roles are ideal for students looking to work abroad during the summer and then return to their studies in the autumn term.
For more information, see work experience and internships and search courses and research.
Tour operators provide new holiday representatives with training in the UK before they are sent out to their resort. They then complete their training programme once they have arrived in the resort where they will live and work.
The length of training courses varies between tour operators. These intensive sessions are aimed at equipping new representatives with all the guidance and preparation they need to work in an overseas resort. They cover topics such as:
New representatives are also shown how to deal with common problems that may arise. The induction is an opportunity for representatives to meet each other and start building a network of other holiday representative contacts in other countries and resorts.
Representatives usually have time in the resort to familiarise themselves with the local area, accommodation and excursions before the holidaymakers arrive.
Holiday representatives that join part way through a season are still given a training and induction period in resort and there may be another holiday representative who has been working in your accommodation who can complete a handover exercise, warning you of problem areas and preparing you for the weeks ahead.
The rest of the training is on the job. New representatives are supported and assessed by head representatives or resort managers. Usually new holiday representatives begin on a probationary period and have to pass certain assessments before being passed off as a fully qualified holiday representative.
Some tour operators encourage (or require) their representatives to obtain relevant NVQ qualifications, e.g. in travel services, while they are working in the resort.
In-house supervisory/management development courses may also be provided and holiday representatives usually receive ongoing training throughout their career, sometimes being brought back to the UK for refresher courses on best practice or training on new procedures.
Working full time as a holiday representative is very intensive and demanding. As a result, most people do not do it for longer than two years.
Some representatives become head representatives, resort managers or regional area managers abroad, while some move back to the UK and work at the head office or become involved in the recruitment process for new staff.
Head representatives are responsible for training and supervising new holiday representatives and usually act as the main point of contact for the tour operator. There is also the opportunity for representatives to become resort managers and some may oversee several resorts. Progression from here could be to regional area manager, where you oversee representatives on a group of islands or in a specific country.
You may be able to progress this way with your current tour operator or you may need to move to a larger company to achieve the promotion.
It is possible to move into different areas within the tour operator, including:
Those who return to the UK often continue to work within the travel industry. Opportunities that exist include:
Working as a holiday representative helps to develop many invaluable transferable skills, including communication, organisation, presentation, customer service, business awareness, leadership, sales and teamwork. These skills are sought after in most industries, although former holiday representatives may be more suited to roles in retail, hospitality, leisure and entertainment.
The major employers of holiday representatives are tour operators. In the UK the main players in the tour operator industry are:
These operators offer a variety of package holidays and employ hundreds of holiday representatives each year to work in their resorts.
In addition to the large tour operators, there are hundreds of smaller, more specialised operators. These may specialise in one particular region or may focus on particular activities, e.g. skiing or trekking. The websites for the big tour operators will also tell you which of the smaller brands they own, for example Thomas Cook owns the brand Neilson, which provides activity packed holidays throughout the year.
Other employers of holiday representatives include:
Recruitment agencies rarely handle vacancies.
Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.
Tweet