Packing up your desk
Most people who work in the business of selling travel don’t exactly shy away from the chance to add ink to their own passports. So for 2013’s Salary Survey, Australia’s travel agents were asked about the appeal and feasibility of packing up their desks and transferring their skills to an overseas destination.
The results were mixed, with most people realistic about their employment prospects offshore and plenty who were more than happy staying within Australia’s borders. When travel agents were asked whether they would consider taking a similar job in an agency overseas they were split roughly two to one against the idea. The majority of 63% said that they would not consider transferring their skills to a foreign locale. But over one third, the remaining 37%, would welcome the idea of broadening their horizons and working as a travel agent in a foreign country.
These results prompted the next survey question, which asked agents if they had adequate language skills to work abroad, a prerequisite to setting up shop in a non-English speaking country. The survey found a mere 19% of respondents thought they had sufficient linguistic skills to take their trade overseas. The other 81%, would be fish out of water if English was not the tongue of choice.
Finally, agents were asked to name the country that would be most suitable for them to work in if they left Australia. Just a touch under half the respondents, 49% in fact, said they were more than happy staying put. And it should come as no surprise given Australia’s historic links and shared language with England that the UK was the destination of choice for 31% of agents who would be eager to work overseas.
The remaining 20% of agents would head to a wide range of destinations in an ideal world. Working across the ditch in New Zealand suited 4% of respondents, while 3% thought the tax free emirate of Dubai, another easy place to do business in English, would be appropriate. There were also 2.5% who were eyeing off Singapore – another largely English speaking business location – for their overseas workplace.
And, perhaps unsurprisingly, there were 2.5% who opted for France and another 1.5% who liked the sound of doing business in Spain. It’s not clear whether these agents had the language skills to make a fist of it, or simply desired a working holiday with easy access to great food, wine and Mediterranean sunshine.
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