Most travel consultant CVs read like a booking system and a job description copied into bullets. The ones that get interviews prove you can sell a trip, fix a problem at 9pm, and keep a client coming back.
A recruiter at an agency or an online travel firm skims for three things fast: the systems you know, proof you hit sales and service targets, and a format that opens cleanly on their screen. If you want the fundamentals first, see how to write a CV.
Key takeaways
- Lead with the systems you know. Name your GDS by version, Amadeus, Sabre, or Galileo, near the top.
- Prove you sell. A sales figure against target beats any adjective about being customer-focused.
- Send a PDF for direct applications and keep a Word copy for agencies that reformat CVs.
- Two pages once you have experience, one page if you are moving in from retail or hospitality.
- Open with a short personal statement built on systems, sales numbers, and one concrete result.
- Quantify everything. Booking volumes, conversion, satisfaction scores, and repeat clients all belong in your bullets.
Formatting your travel consultant CV
Travel recruiters move fast and often read on a phone between calls. A clean, predictable CV format gets you read. A clever one gets you skimmed past.
Use reverse chronological order once you have travel or sales roles behind you, so your most recent booking experience sits first. If you are switching in from retail or hospitality, lead with skills instead and put work history lower.
Order your sections for a travel reader. Personal statement, then a systems or skills block, then experience, then training. A recruiter should see your GDS and a sales number before they reach the bottom of the first page.
Keep it to two pages, one page if you are new to the field. One or two columns are both fine, as long as the headings are standard and the text is selectable.
Pick a plain, readable font and keep the margins generous. Bold your job titles and the systems you know so a ten-second skim still catches them. Leave out photos, flags, and heavy graphics, which agency templates strip out anyway.
Send a PDF for direct applications so the layout holds on any screen. Keep a Word copy for recruitment agencies, which place a large share of travel roles and drop your details into their own template.
Applications often pass through tracking software, so keep the structure clean for an ATS-friendly CV. Build from a tested layout rather than a blank page: Enhancv's CV templates export to a clean PDF.
Put your location and right-to-work status in the header, next to a clear job title such as "Travel Consultant, ABTA-trained." It matters more here than in most roles, because international, cruise, and resort employers screen for who can travel and relocate. See what else belongs in your personal details.
| Element | What works for a UK travel consultant CV |
|---|---|
| File format | PDF for direct applications so the layout holds, plus a Word copy for agencies that reformat CVs into their own template. |
| Length | Two pages once you have agency or sales experience, one page if you are new to travel. |
| Order | Reverse chronological for experienced consultants, skills-led if you are moving in from retail or hospitality. |
| Systems | Name your GDS by version near the top, Amadeus, Sabre, or Galileo, rather than burying it in a skills list. |
| Header | Location and right-to-work status up top, which international, cruise, and resort employers screen for early. |
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Should you use a Word template for your travel consultant CV?
A Word template is the fastest way to a tidy travel consultant CV, and it is what many agencies expect you to send. The catch is what happens when it meets a tracking system.
Heavy templates hide your text in text boxes, tables, and columns that an ATS can scramble into nonsense. If you build in Word, keep the CV layout single-column, use standard headings, and avoid putting key details in the header or footer.
Word is genuinely the right call in two cases: when an agency consultant asks for an editable file, and when you are copying text into an online application form. For anything you control, a PDF protects the layout better.
If you would rather not manage the formatting by hand, start from a tested CV template and export a clean PDF for direct applications, keeping the Word file for agencies that ask for one.
PRO TIP
Recruiters search their inbox and their system for the exact terms an advert uses. If the ad says Amadeus, write Amadeus, not GDS. If it says corporate travel, do not call it business travel. Mirror the wording where it is true of you, and your CV surfaces in the search.
Writing your travel consultant personal statement
Three or four sentences at the top: who you are, the systems you work in, a sales or service result, and the kind of travel role you want next. Keep it concrete. Browse more personal statement examples if the opening line is not landing.
Skip the adjective soup. "Passionate, hard-working, and customer-focused" tells a recruiter nothing they can check.
Lead with evidence instead:
Travel consultant personal statement example (experienced)
Detail-focused travel consultant with four years selling tailored holidays and corporate travel for a high-street agency. Fluent in Amadeus and Sabre, consistently above a £90,000 quarterly sales target, and trusted with complex multi-stop itineraries. ABTA-aware and calm under disruption, now looking to bring repeat-client relationships and strong upsell numbers to a luxury travel consultant role in Manchester.
For a first application the same rules apply, you just draw the evidence from adjacent work:
Travel consultant personal statement example (no experience)
Sales-driven retail assistant moving into travel, with two years of upselling holiday add-ons and travel cover at a busy high-street store. Consistently beat weekly targets, handled complaints end to end, and completed an introductory Amadeus course. Widely travelled across Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean, now looking for a trainee travel consultant role where sales instinct and destination knowledge count.
Travel consultant personal statement to avoid
Passionate and hard-working travel consultant with excellent communication skills and a genuine love of travel. A motivated team player who works well under pressure and always goes the extra mile to deliver a great customer experience.
The second one could belong to any candidate in any industry. It names no system, no target, and no result, so a travel recruiter cannot tell whether you have ever sold a single holiday.
When we read a travel consultant CV, the first thing we look for is proof you can sell and service a booking, not just operate the system. Anyone can list Amadeus. Far fewer show a sales target they beat, a disruption they fixed at midnight, or a client who came back because of them. Put one of those in your opening lines and the CV stops reading like every other application in the pile.
Skills to put on a travel consultant CV
Read a batch of live travel consultant adverts and the same tools repeat. A global distribution system, usually Amadeus, Sabre, or Galileo, sits at the centre, alongside fare construction, ticketing, and a CRM such as Salesforce. Those are your hard skills, written in the words the adverts use.
The soft skills that matter are the ones a client feels: clear communication, patience under disruption, and the instinct to upsell without pushing. Prove each one in a bullet rather than listing it.
Evidence beats a list. Instead of "Amadeus" on its own, write "Built complex multi-city fares in Amadeus for corporate clients." Instead of "customer service," write "Held a 96% satisfaction score across 300 enquiries a month." Each skill earns its place by pointing at a result.
List only what you can stand behind. Strong customer service skills and a named booking system will always beat a longer list you cannot demo in an interview.
Top skills for your travel consultant CV:
Amadeus
Sabre
Galileo
GDS fare construction
Itinerary and multi-stop planning
Ticketing and reissues
CRM (Salesforce)
Sales and upselling
ABTA and ATOL awareness
Live chat and booking enquiries
Customer service
Communication
Attention to detail
Problem solving
Resilience under disruption
Writing your travel consultant experience section
Give each role a dated heading, then bullets that show what you booked, what you sold, and what happened as a result. Lead each bullet with a verb. For the mechanics, see work experience on a CV.
Travel is a numbers job, so your CV should be too. Booking volume, sales against target, conversion rate, and satisfaction scores are your CV achievements. Pair each figure with the action that earned it.
A reliable bullet formula is verb, what you did, the number, then the result. "Rebooked 40 disrupted passengers in one evening, holding the branch's on-time recovery rate above 90%" beats "responsible for handling disruptions." Start with the verb and let the number persuade.
Tailor every application. Pull the systems and the type of travel from the advert and mirror them where they are true of you. Enhancv's CV tailoring feature reads the ad and suggests the matching edits, which saves rewriting from scratch each time.
If a role was short or junior, still give it a dated heading and two lines. A summer selling excursions at a resort or a stint on a contact-centre sales floor both belong here, written in travel and sales terms rather than played down.
- Book tailored holidays and corporate travel for 40 to 50 clients a month using Amadeus, from fare construction and ticketing to post-booking changes
- Hit 118% of a £90,000 quarterly sales target by upselling lounges, upgrades, and travel insurance at the point of booking
- Hold a 96% customer satisfaction score across phone, live chat, and email enquiries
- Resolve out-of-hours schedule disruptions and rebookings, cutting complaint escalations to the team leader by a third
- Handled 60 to 70 walk-in and phone enquiries a week for package holidays across the Mediterranean and Canaries
- Grew average booking value by 14% over two years by matching add-ons and upgrades to each client's trip
- Trained two new advisers on Galileo, fare rules, and the branch's service standards
- Kept a complaint rate below 2% by confirming every itinerary detail before ticketing
PRO TIP
Put the metric before the method. "Converted 32% of enquiries into booked holidays" lands harder than "responsible for converting enquiries." One clear number does more work than three lines of duties, and it is the detail an interviewer asks you to talk through.
What travel recruiters cut first
- Generic objectives that could open any CV in any sector.
- Booking systems listed with no context, so no one can gauge your level.
- Duties copied straight from the advert instead of results.
- Undated roles and unexplained gaps.
- A third page. Two is the ceiling.
Education and training for a travel consultant CV
You rarely need a degree to work in travel. What employers look for is system training and industry awareness, so give those room on the page.
List any GDS training by name, a travel and tourism qualification if you hold one, and awareness of ABTA and ATOL rules. Add these to your education section or a short training block.
Name any certificates in full, including an IATA course or a supplier fam-trip certificate, and note the year. If a qualification is in progress, say so. It signals you are already on the path.
Languages are a genuine asset in travel, so list them with a level rather than a vague "conversational." First-hand destination knowledge counts too. A short line on the regions you have travelled or sold gives an interviewer an easy way in and hints at the trips you can advise on with confidence.
Writing a travel consultant CV with no experience
Travel agencies hire for sales instinct and service, and they train the systems. So a first travel consultant CV leans on the experience you already have.
Lead with a skills-led structure: personal statement, then skills, then work history. Mine retail, hospitality, and call-centre roles for the parts that transfer, upselling, complaint handling, hitting targets, and working to procedure.
Write them in travel language. "Upsold add-ons to beat a weekly retail target" is a sales bullet a travel manager understands. If you have travelled widely or planned trips for others, a short line about the destinations you know adds real colour.
Tailor the angle to the employer. A high-street agency wants sales and face-to-face service. An online travel firm wants speed, accuracy, and live-chat volume. Lead with whichever side of your experience matches the advert in front of you.
A single strong entry can carry a first CV. A retail role written as "Upsold holiday add-ons and travel cover, beat a weekly sales target by 15%, and resolved customer complaints at the counter" reads as travel-ready, even though the word travel never appears in the job title.
Any volunteering or a first booking-system course belongs on the page too. See how to shape a first job CV if this is your first application.
Conclusion
Lead with the systems you know, prove you can sell and service a booking, and keep the format clean enough to open on any screen.
Pair the CV with a short cover letter that says why travel and why this employer, and a strong application comes together fast.
Author's take - the Enhancv team
When we read a travel consultant CV, the first thing we look for is proof you can sell and service a booking, not just operate the system. Anyone can list Amadeus. Far fewer show a sales target they beat, a disruption they fixed at midnight, or a client who came back because of them. Put one of those in your opening lines and the CV stops reading like every other application in the pile.