Summary

Travel Perspectives: A Guide to Becoming a Travel Professional, 4th edition, is a book designed to address the challenges of today's travel professional. Travel professionals must know and use technology that did not exist just a few years ago, and be able to develop their customer base by keeping ahead of the Internet. The knowledge required to meet these challenges is staggering and can be intimidating. With this newly updated reference, professionals can approach these challenges with confidence. The book takes the reader on a journey beginning with career opportunities, new technologies, and the new realities involved in traveling, and then progresses through travel products, geography and sales. The focus is on building skills and developing critical thinking abilities. The book provides both a complex survey of the travel industry and the hands-on skills needed to secure and retain employment as a travel professional. There is considerable attention paid to the Internet and the World Wide Web as a reference tool and also as a tool for sales and marketing in the dot com travel environment. Relevant information on travel safety and security is a primary concern for today's travelers and travel professionals, therefore policies, government agencies, and procedures are all investigated in the book. Ecotourism is explored and there is a new section on geography. Being a travel professional in the 21st century requires complex product knowledge as well as a whole new set of skills, and readers will benefit from this informative and explorative book that addresses these products and skills in a real-world way.