The Age, The Ladder by Victoria Gurvich
ALL IS not well in the travel workplace. Insiders are reporting low wages, high staff turnover and a glut of graduates from self-titled travel colleges. The effects of SARS, terrorism and technology, and the airlines' increasing reluctance to pay commissions to travel agencies, have led to a near-crisis situation in the once-glamorous sector.
Richard Kellaway, of travel recruitment specialist CRC Travel Locum, says the industry is struggling to cope.
"While the industry is critically under-resourced, there are a huge number of graduates who can't even get an interview," he says. "Agencies want people who know how to sell and how to wade amongst the massive volume of product available to come up with the best solution/fare for the customer."
The industry went through massive redundancies about four years ago and had to "dumb down" its systems to allow for a lower level of experience. It also asked customers to do most of the work themselves via the internet.
"Nowadays, the domestic consultant has gone the way of the dodo and the Fitzroy Football Club. People do all their own domestic bookings online," Mr Kellaway says.
"Although pay is poor - $33K for a two-year consultant - the job is terribly stressful. This week, I heard of a 21-year-old consultant who made a miscalculation that cost the company $800. It was taken out of his pay.
"The average stay in the industry is probably two or three years and consultants are constantly being poached.
"Smaller owner-operators gnash their teeth at having employed a graduate and trained them up for 18 months, only to lose them to one of the big corporate agencies."
Karsten Horne, head of Reho Travel says the problem is exacerbated by the lure of travel - agencies find themselves investing in trainees who then take off to travel the world.
"However, there's a bright side to the travel industry - opportunities to attend training, functions, launches, movie nights nearly every night of the week," Mr Horne says. "In what other job are you offered a free trip overseas on a week's notice? Sure beats getting excited about electricity."
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