Meet Abu Dhabi based Travel Counsellor, Ceri Gorman

What were you doing prior to becoming a TC? Before becoming a Travel Counsellor, I worked in marketing, primarily within the education sector. While the marketing landscape has evolved significantly, I'm enjoying the opportunity to apply my marketing expertise once again, and my previous experience has been invaluable in helping me establish and grow my business.

Reason for joining From a young age, I’ve been passionate about travel, languages, and culture, always imagining myself working in the travel industry. However, life's twists led me down a different path and living in SE Asia, Oman and now the UAE has been a highlight. When I learned about Travel Counsellors shortly after moving to Abu Dhabi, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and knew it was the perfect opportunity to pursue my ambition.

The recruitment process gave me plenty of opportunities to find out about Travel Counsellors in detail. Everything happened very quickly, my only frustration was having to wait until after the school summer holidays as I couldn’t wait to get started!

Tools and tech I’ve been so impressed with the technology and tools available to me as a TC. Our platform – Phenix allows me to compare thousands of travel products and pull together a complex itinerary all I one place. It’s also great that TC are continually investing and improving the technology available to TCs.

What support and training do you receive? From day 1 the training and support has been fantastic, from a well structured training programme which combined face to face with online meetings and modules, to daily support from my colleagues in our Dubai office. The resources and support with marketing, technology and operations mean that I can spend more time focusing on my customers, growing my business and continuing my training.

It’s great community to be part of. My training cohort are encouraging and supportive and I’m enjoying seeing their businesses grow in different directions. There are opportunities to meet with the wider TC community, who have wealth of knowledge to share.

I’m excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and the potential that my business has to grow, all whilst having the flexibility to spend time with my family.

What’s the best thing about being a TC I genuinely love researching a destination and putting together an itinerary that really works for my client, even better is hearing all about it and seeing their photos.