Travel Counsellors delve deeper into our route of entry exclusively to help ex-airline crew to launch a business in retail travel in the UAE

Are you ex-airline crew? Looking to continue your career in travel?

What does a Travel Counsellor (TC) do?

Our Travel Counsellors help individuals, groups, and business travellers plan and organise their travel schedules, from tailormade full tour packages to just booking flights our TCs set themselves apart from the rest by building personal relationships with their customers and delivering the highest level of personal service and care that can be found in the travel industry. It’s our unique approach to travel that makes us more than a little different from the rest. You’ll be able to offer your customers an authentic, tailor-made travel service, creating bespoke, ‘one-off’ itineraries that cannot be found anywhere else. That’s what keeps our customers coming back year after year, again and again.

What makes people decide to become a Travel Counsellor here in the UAE?

The opportunity to run a business as a Travel Counsellor here is the UAE is unique and for many people it’s a platform to turn their passion for travel and personal travel experience into a commercial enterprise. We facilitate the business through a franchise model taking care of all the business set up, trade licensing, back office support and product sourcing which makes it a very straight forward way to set up a business here and having the security of a global brand with proven track record is very appealing to many people. In addition, the fact that the business is home-based offers a huge degree of flexibility allowing the Travel Counsellors to manage their time and look after their customers more effectively.

What is this route of entry for ex-airline crew?

Our route of entry is called Travel Trade Aviation. This is designed to support ex-air crew who are looking to turn their experience into a business. Bringing a wealth of long-haul destination knowledge as well as a natural flair for delivering exceptional levels of customer service the Travel Trade Aviation induction and training will be primarily focused on sales skills development. As ex-cabin crew myself I know the value of this expertise and with many of my friends and I having lived in The UAE for such a long time we are well established and well networked which really helps when setting up your own business here.

What are the criteria to be considered for Travel Trade Aviation?

You must have at least 3 years’ experience as long haul crew and you must have left the industry no more than 3 years ago. Its also important to know that running your business as a Travel Counsellor is a full-time commitment and not something that can be done alongside another job.

What is the recruitment process?

Generally, the 1st stage is by attending our virtual group discovery session or a 121 interview with Holly our Recruitment & Sales Manager. We go through your CV get to know more about you and your motivations behind setting up your own travel business. We can also answer all the questions that are bound to come up.

After that interview we ask you to complete a business planning exercise where you can get your ideas down on paper; what type of travel your think you’ll be selling, where you can find customers, how much time you have to dedicate to the business, what your financial expectations are various other points that are good to consider before launching the business.

When you return the business plan, we then arrange a final meeting with Katie from Business Development who works closely with the new TCs during their first year in business. During that meeting your plans are reviewed and time taken to explain in more detail the type of support you can expect from the operations and business development team in Dubai. At the end of this process most people will have drawn a conclusion about whither a career as a Travel Counsellor is right for them and generally by that point, we will be in a position to confirm if we are happy to extend a contract to you. We don’t take everyone who applies and it’s important that we get people who are the right fit and bring the skills we are looking for in future business partners.

What is the onboarding process?

After signed contracts are received, we will get you booked onto the induction. Prior to the in-office induction there are some pre-induction activities to be getting on with including creating content for your social media and webpage, getting to know more about the most popular products and locations we sell and finding that all important photograph for your Travel Counsellors profile (this is always the thing that takes people the most time). After you have completed your in-office induction that’s when your new business will officially “go live”!! It’s such an exciting time and can be a little nerve wracking but don’t worry the Head Office team are all here to support you along with your new colleagues in the TC family.

What about visas or work permits?

We can facilitate both visa’s and work permits for our franchisees depending on their personal situation and what is required for them. All of this will be discussed with you during the recruitment process.

How do I find out more?

Register for one of our free monthly virtual discovery presentations here - https://people.travelcounsellors.com/ae/events/