CCollegeMatcher

Travel Agents

US occupation · SOC 41-3041

Job titles people report: Auto Travel Counselor, Beach Expert, Corporate Travel Consultant, Destination Specialist, International Travel Consultant, Tour Coordinator, Tour Counselor, Travel Agent, Travel Consultant, Travel Counselor

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$50,160
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$41,950 – $63,060
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
55,110
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+0.2%
Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)
Openings a year (projected)
5,900
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
High school diploma or equivalent
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Plan and sell transportation and accommodations for customers. Determine destination, modes of transportation, travel dates, costs, and accommodations required. May also describe, plan, and arrange itineraries and sell tour packages. May assist in resolving clients' travel problems.

Main tasks

  • Collect payment for transportation and accommodations from customer.
  • Plan, describe, arrange, and sell itinerary tour packages and promotional travel incentives offered by various travel carriers.
  • Converse with customer to determine destination, mode of transportation, travel dates, financial considerations, and accommodations required.
  • Compute cost of travel and accommodations, using calculator, computer, carrier tariff books, and hotel rate books, or quote package tour's costs.
  • Record and maintain information on clients, vendors, and travel packages.
  • Book transportation and hotel reservations, using computer or telephone.
  • Print or request transportation carrier tickets, using computer printer system or system link to travel carrier.
  • Provide customer with brochures and publications containing travel information, such as local customs, points of interest, or foreign country regulations.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
High school diploma or equivalent
Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training
O*NET Job Zone 3
Medium preparation
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
  • Social: helping, teaching and caring for people

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 2 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Business

  • Selling Skills and Sales Operations
  • Tourism and Travel Services Marketing Operations

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Business at the Major step.

Where many students take business

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk