Travel Consultant

A travel consultant designs and sells tailored holiday packages, business travel itineraries, and leisure trips to clients in a retail or online travel agency setting. They research destinations, accommodation, transport options, and activities to meet client needs, budgets, and preferences, and complete all bookings and documentation required for departure. The role involves direct client consultation, destination knowledge, and management of travel logistics including visas, travel insurance, and regulatory requirements.

Consult with clients face-to-face or online to identify travel preferences, budget constraints, dates, group size, and special requirements such as accessibility needs or dietary restrictions. Research and compare accommodation options, airlines, transport providers, and tour operators using global distribution systems (GDS) such as Amadeus or Sabre. Design multi-destination itineraries including transport, accommodation, activities, dining, and contingency plans for domestic and international travel. Advise clients on visa requirements, travel insurance products, vaccination recommendations, and customs regulations for target destinations. Book flights, accommodation, transfers, and activities through GDS, booking engines, and direct supplier contacts, ensuring payment terms and cancellation policies are documented. Produce detailed itineraries, confirmations, and travel documents including invoice summaries, booking references, and traveller information sheets. Educate clients about destination safety, cultural customs, currency exchange, transportation networks, and seasonal weather conditions. Manage client accounts, track payment status, issue receipts and invoices, and process refunds or amendments in accordance with agency policy and travel industry terms and conditions.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

The industry is shrinking fast. Most people now book flights and hotels direct online, and big operators like Flight Centre have cut staff heavily. Commission-based pay means lean months when bookings drop. You'll also handle angry customers when flights are cancelled or prices change, often with little you can do about it.

In reality, jobs concentrate in capital city CBDs where corporate travel and tourism agencies cluster. Remote work is growing but less common than in other sectors. Regional areas have fewer openings. Many positions are part-time or casual, and online agencies dominate, reducing traditional retail footprint.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 4516, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Active Listeningcore
• Appointment Schedulingcore
• Attention to Detailcore
• CRM System Operationcore
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
• Customer Complaint Resolutioncore
• Customer Needs Assessmentcore
• Invoicing and Billing Administrationcore
• Negotiationcore
• Objection Handlingcore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Upselling and Cross-Sellingcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Data Entry and Accuracy
• Digital Literacy
• Email Management
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
• Inbound Call Handling
• Outbound Customer Contact
• Research and Analysis
• Telephone Etiquette
• Time Management and Prioritisation

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Travel Consultant workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026