For this Young Agent, Travel Is About Helping People

While studying biology in college, Joshua Kittle wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after graduation. He had worked at a restaurant and started his own lawn-mowing business to make some money on the side while in school.

He did know, however, that he wanted to help people.

“I always wanted to be in an industry where I could enhance and better the lives of others,” Kittle, who is 25, told Travel Market Report.

“I always liked to travel, so I sat down with my aunt and discussed what we both wanted to achieve in the travel business.”

Family-owned
Kittle joined his aunt at family-owned Louisville, Ky., travel agency Travel Options in April 2010 and has been sending vacationers to exotic destinations ever since. The 30-year-old Vacation.com agency has about an 80/20 mix of leisure and business travel.

“I thought it would be great for me and help boost my aunt’s business on the sales side at the same time,” said Kittle.

 The agency currently has seven employees and works out of a storefront location in Louisville. Kittle’s cousin also works for the agency from home. 

New and exotic
Starting out, Kittle sold charter vacations to local Louisville families and went on to plan vacations for his friends to expose them to new and exotic locations. He sells a lot of trips to Jamaica, Punta Cana and Cancun in addition to managing corporate travel for several local companies.

“I want to focus on my age group mainly to allow the younger traveler to explore the world while they can,” said Kittle.

“It comes to define who you are when you travel as a young person, because later on you aren’t as accepting of new ideas and the world outside your bubble.”

Face to face
Kittle likes working from the agency’s storefront and interacting with clients in-person as much as possible.

“We’re visible, and it helps make things much easier as opposed to being home-based,” he said. “We have all the information and brochures here, and people can come in to talk with us.”

Kittle is a certified Costa Rica specialist and always encourages his clients to try more adventurous getaways than they may normally consider. He is especially impressed with G Adventure’s product in Costa Rica.

Youth movement
After four years in the industry Kittle recognizes the importance of attracting younger workers to the world of travel selling.

As a member of ASTA’s Young Professionals Society, he is working to find interns in his local community who want to be exposed to the business.

“We’re trying to bring in interns and younger college students to work, so they can see if travel is something of interest to them,” said Kittle. “They are probably not going to look for this work outside their college classes, if it isn’t made easily available to them.”

“It can be a struggle sometimes, because selling travel can be really hard work.”

Hard sell
Kittle thinks the industry is a hard sell for many young people because of the shifting ways young people communicate.

 “Confrontation is an issue for most young people; they would rather text or Facebook message than talk face-to-face.”

But as he knows from his time in the industry, there is little as rewarding as helping people experience fantastic vacations.

“If we are trying to promote the industry for younger people, the best thing is to just let them experience it,” said Kittle.