Cruise Agent, Travel Agent, etc. What’s In A Name?

Travel professionals go by many names. cruise agent, travel agent, trip advisor, travel consultant, cruise planner, trip planner, travel planner and travel advisor are a few such designations. Of course, including the word professional (such as professional travel planner) adds to an already long list.

A key question is whether these descriptions are important to the traveling public. A secondary question is whether the travel professional thinks they are important.

How about you, do you care about the title of the travel professional you use?

Regardless of how you answer, (yes, no, it depends, or it doesn’t matter), the bottom line is whether the services offered met your needs. Are you a “happy camper” at the end of the day? Are you encountering many hassles in planning your trip or vacation?

Did you use a travel consultant?

Or…

…did you use a travel planner? Is there a difference?

Clearly, some titles suggest more of a specialized service, such as cruise agent. Undoubtedly, a travel professional uses a label to show his/her area of specialization. However, no one would suggest that only a cruise agent provides the required services in a superlative way.

A travel professional referred to as a travel agent (or any other designation) may have the capability of doing a superb job, even though that job deals with cruising.

What about the reverse? Can a cruise agent perform the over-all functions of a travel agent, and do so equally well? That depends of course on the background and experience of the agent.

Many travel professionals use multiple designations. Simply because you find a travel professional through the designation of, say, travel consultant does not mean that the same person cannot also be located through the designation of travel agent. You may want to contact a cruise planner, but you may get a great travel agent.

Therefore, it seems the most important question is whether you can identify a travel professional, which is right for you regardless of label.

For information on identifying the right travel professional for you, see the author’s article at EzineArticles.com titled “How to Identify Your Perfect Cruise Agent”.

Note: You have permission to reproduce this article if the entire article is reproduced, the article remains unchanged, the author’s resource box at the bottom is included and all links remain intact.

By: Samuel Thompson