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L50776 flexible personality and approach to the job, you will Heath broke into entertainment travel after answering
never succeed in this sector of travel management. an advert in this magazine’s parent publication, TTG. He
Entertainment clients require this, first and foremost. Gigs says the role brought together his two passions in life:
change, names change, and clients, of course, change their travel and music.“I was, and still am, really into music,
mind for no reason whatsoever. If our answer is ‘no’ to so the job perfectly marries my skills and passions. I
their request, they will look elsewhere. So you need to have worked a lot with corporate finance and banking
ensure that everything possible is done and all favours are companies, but where entertainment is different is that
called in to make sure that no-one else can give them a it’s almost entirely group bookings. You have to be able
‘yes’ to the same question. ‘No’ is an absolute last resort.” to handle the intricacies of booking bands and their
crews on the road, as well as the individual travel of the
Hanging on the telephone professional artists themselves.”
Pepe Heath, director of Freebird Travel – part of Protravel Brenda Lillywhite is a director of Surrey-based
International – agrees that flexibility is the number one Movin’Music, part of the Tzell Travel Management
skill required by the agent, so much so that you must network. She joined the music business in 1989. Her
be “on call” at all times. “In most sectors of corporate advice to up-and-coming business travel consultants
travel, the consultant is required to work a 9am to 5pm looking to forge a career in the sector is that experience
day, but in the music business you have to be available is everything.
24/7,” he says. “There are no specific educational requirements to
“People tend to start later in the day, so you might become an entertainment travel agent, but a good
end up working the equivalent of an 11am to 8pm knowledge of geography and a second language are
shift, but you’ll have your phone on all of the time. very helpful,” she says. “Don’t pay for expensive media
Furthermore, you have to take into account that, courses. They can be misleading, as some promise jobs
generally, musicians are not very ‘together’ people, so within the industry at the end of the course. But I
you have to be very patient. They are the sort of people have yet to meet anyone who has succeeded in this
who change their minds every 10 minutes, and it can way. My advice is to get work experience, and be
often go on all day.” prepared to start at the very bottom of the ladder.”
ttgbusiness.com a79 november 2008
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