Slide 6

• Types of Travel Agencies Based on Size and Organizational Set-up

  • Small-sized Travel Agency
  • Medium-sized Travel Agency
  • Large-sized Travel Agency
• Small-sized Travel Agency


  • Less than 10 employees
  • Manager supervises all three departments, also acts as the marketing person, backed up by account executive to perform sales functions
  • Administrative - secretary, book keeper, cashier and utility staff or janitorial and messenger services
  • Operations - travel counsellor or counter staff, reservations and ticketing and liaison officer
  • Accounting functions are out-sourced to reduce staff cost
• Medium-sized Travel Agency


  • Around 20 or more employees with three department heads
  • Upper management composed of General Manager and Asst. General Manager, backed up by a Secretary
  • Administrative Department is composed of Administrative Manager, full-time accounant who is assisted by a book keeper, cashier and utility person
  • Operations Department is composed of Operations Manager, helped by travel supervisor to oversee travel counsellor/counter staff, and reservations and ticketing staff
• Large-sized Travel Agency


  • At least 30 employees headed by the Managing Director, backed-up by a Deputy Managing Director or an Assistant General Manager
  • Comptroller oversees the management of company's database and electronic and automated systems and procedures
  • Administrative - a personnel officer is hired to handle human resource, and number of collectors are added to collect the ever-growing amount of receivables
  • Travel Management attends to different market segments such as corporate accounts and walk-ins; Tour Operations assembles tour packages for outbound, inbound, domestic or local tours
  • Sales & Marketing Manager supervise a Business Development Person, who take direct charge of the account executives
• Three departments that comprise a travel agency

  • Administration
  • Sales and Marketing
  • Operations
• Administration Department

  • General Administration Section
  • Personnel Section
  • Accounting Section
  • Finance Section
• General Administration Section


  Handles legal aspects of the organisation, insurance of the company, purchase and maintenance of furniture, furnish and office equipment, formulation of company policies, standard operating procedures, company forms and filing systems and electronic data and information processing system
• Personnel Section


  Handles hiring policies and compensation schemes, education and training of staff, evaluation of staff performance to determine merit increase or poor performance, decides on disciplinary actions to be imposed on employees violating company policies and office rules and regulations
• Accounting Section


  Handles the company's records including government licenses and permits, custody of accountable forms, formulation of budget and monitoring of payables and receivables, implementation of Company Policies pertinent to Billings, credit and collection
• Finance Section


  Handles the custodian of all money collected and disbursed, assists the general manager in the cash flow management of the organisation
• Sales


  The desired result of marketing; Sales are either counter sales (for walk-in clients), or field sales (for corporate accounts)
• Marketing


  Done to create awareness about the company, its products and services and create sales opportunities
• Roles in the Sales and Marketing Department

  • Sales and Marketing Manager
  • Product Development Officer
  • Business Development Officer
  • Counter Sales
  • Field Sales/Account Executive
• Sales and Marketing Manager

  Generate targeted maximum sales in order to meet the target figures, prepare annual marketing plan, set annual goals and develop working plans, participate in the preparation of organisation's budget, supervise and coordinate all activities of the account executives, decide on negotiated rates and concessions as needed, prepare and submit sales and marketing report on a regular basis, prepare proposal letters and contracts as needed, in-charge in all marketing activities including attendance in local and international fairs and events, preparation of press release, marketing materials, give-aways and the like, maintain an updated mailing list of clients and prospective clients and conducts regular sales call on accounts and suppliers
• Product Development Officer


  Update the organisation about new trends and travel destinations, and development of new products and services, review existing customer base, product and market profile and analyze charateristics and SWOT, development and upgrading of new products and services, set-up goals for wholesale products and develop working plans to carry out the goals within a time frame, prepares and submits regular reports, production and sales of wholesale products, prepare wholesale proposals and contracts, monitor available products and services in various travel websites and platforms, monitor electric rates for services available for both direct, through internet and intermediaries, disseminate relevant information to all departments concerned, maintain and update the company's website content on a regular basis
• Counter Sales


  Transactions captured by travel counsellors/counter staff from walk-in clients
• Field Sales


  Transactions captured by account executives outside the office premises as a result of predetermined soliciation of business
• Account Executives


  Field Travel Counsellors who have sales plan and patterns to implement and take time to follow-up sales leads, prepares and conducts monthly sales and daily sales call plans, submit regular sales reports, prepare proposal letters, participates in developing the annual marketing plan, negotiates ad hoc rates and credit facilities with suppliers, represents the organisation in business related social activities and meetings, undertakes monthly evaluation of accounts in relation to production, payment and credit
• Business Development Officer


  Identify prospective clients, review performance and identify areas with potential for additional business and source links to generate, initiates close collaboration with external linkages to development of new market or identify niche market segments with the potential for new business
• Operations Department


  • Travel Operations; and, Tour Operations
• Roles in the Travel Operations

  • Travel Manager
  • Travel Supervisor
  • Documentation Supervisor
  • Travel Counsellor/Counter Staff
  • Reservations and Ticketing Officer
  • Liaison Officer
• Travel Counsellor


  Provide necessary information requested by prospective travellers, recommend products and services best suited to the traveller's needs, keep abreast of travel related information, fill-out and log-in all required information in the booking card for travel, properly endorse booking card for travel to the reservations and ticketing officer, relay all changes and confirmation to client, issue requisition slips, tour vouchers and purchase orders, process refunds and cancellation fees, monitor progress of travel documentation and ensure these are in order after released by concerned government entities, prepare invoices, provide close support to the Sales & Marketing Department in terms of quotation and information, prepare company reports on counter sales
• Reservations and Ticketing Officer


  Place all required reservations with suppliers, follow-up reservations placed until confirmation is received, change reservations when itineraries are amended, look for alternative supplier of the same or better standard when original supplier is not available of fully-booked, correctly source or calucalte fares, issue air tickets manual
• Liaison Officer


  Check all relevant support papers for travel documents application, check the authenticity of all public documents presented, assist in filling-out of application forms, determines what visas and other documents are required for travel, monitors appointments and visits to other consulates and government offices
• Tour Operations Department


  • Office Operations consists of contracting rates, terms and conditions with the suppliers and tariff costing, calculation of rates per service, including those for regular tour packages
  • Field Operations consists of meeting/sending off clients referred to as "meet and assist" and overseeing the actual delivery of services