Jamie Biesiada
An airline pilot-turned-host-agency-owner has penned a book for new travel advisors, "The Professional Travel Advisor Guidebook."
Taylor Beckett, owner of Luxury Corporate Travel in Grand Prairie, Texas, said the 200-page guidebook is one he wished he had when he started his journey as a travel advisor five years ago.
Like many advisors, Beckett's love of travel started at an early age, thanks to his father, a Delta Air Lines pilot. Beckett initially followed in his father's footsteps and became a pilot himself.
Taylor Beckett, owner of Luxury Corporate Travel in Grand Prairie, Texas. Photo Credit: Taylor Beckett
But around five years ago, he started working as an advisor. Things were going well. So well, in fact, that when his airline recalled him to work after the initial waves of Covid, he decided he didn't want to go back.
Today, Luxury Corporate Travel is host to around 35 agents selling a wide variety of travel.
Indeed, hosting was half the reason he decided to write his book.
"I realized I kept getting the same questions over again, and I was like, it would be awesome if I could just give them this book," he said.
The other reason he decided to write "The Professional Travel Advisor Guide" was based on his own start in travel. He had so many questions that he ended up searching on the internet, he said, essentially self-learning everything.
By publishing what he has learned as a book, he hopes more potential and new advisors will benefit, Beckett said.
"When I wrote the outline, I was trying to figure out basically the big questions that people had," Beckett said.
The book is divided into nine chapters delving into a number of topics relevant to new advisors: accreditation and industry organizations; business formation and licensing; training; booking portals and rate codes; income and commissions; expected expenses; branding and marketing; growth and professional development; and providing value to others. It also includes a list of resources and common acronyms and abbreviations.
"That's always the big question: Why would you want to use a travel advisor, and what can they do for you?" Beckett said. "I think it's like 20 pages of just giving examples of how you can provide value to somebody."