1. INTRODUCTION
Travel agencies are the retail arm of the travel and tourism industry. In the same
way that a clothes shop sells products to shoppers, so travel agencies retail their
products to the general public. The difference between these two types of retail
outlets, is that, unlike the clothes retailer, travel agencies do not buy in stock in
advance, but react to the wishes of their customers before contacting the holiday
companies. (Youell, 1995: 96) The number of staff working in travel agencies
might be less than those working in industry managements but travel agency staff
should have some abilities and skills.(Hacıoğlu,163) Not only do they need
technical skills in reading timetables, calculating fares and an ability to write
tickets, they also need good interpersonal skills in closing a sale and in being able
to use technology (e.g. CRS). Agents also need to be able to explain the growing
complexity of air fares and the conditions attached to them in simple, plain
English.(Page, 2007:265) Therefore, travel agencies should find and select the
right personnel and in order to achieve this, they should determine the right policy
on their recruitment and selection processes.