The Evolution of Custom Training Solutions by The Travel Institute

Are you a host or brick-and-mortar agency owner, a supplier, an executive, or a consortium looking to enhance your training program but don’t have the time, staff, or money to develop content and invest in learning management tools? As we celebrate our 60th Anniversary, we wanted to shine a light on some of our Turnkey Training & Education Solutionsand the ways in which you can benefit from our cost-effective expertise. 

All Travel Institute team members share the same goal: your industry success! Whether it’s off-the-shelf plug-and-play courses, a white-labeled product, a customized version of our content, or another creative solution, our team works with organizations to share our tried-and-true content, expertise, and know-how.

Staying ahead in our industry requires continuous adaptation. The Travel Institute is constantly looking at industry shifts and trends, as well as students’ learning behaviors. In the early 2000s, we modernized our curriculum to create shorter learning topics that not only would enhance students’ learning but also would play a critical role in organizations looking to enhance their own content. Leading this initiative was our Board of Trustees’ then-Chair Matthew Upchurch, CTC, who aimed to enable industry players to integrate our materials into their unique talent-development plans. Listen to Matthew’s message here. 

Moving into the next decade, under the leadership of Brian Robb, CTIE—former Chair of the Board of Directors—the team at The Travel Institute propelled forward with creating custom education for organizations. Listen to Brian’s message here. 

Fast forward to today, when, more than ever, we are partnering with host agencies and consortia via our Turnkey Training & Education Solution. In carrying out Matthew’s original vision, we have evolved into a kind of “Intel microchip” regarding education for travel organizations, allowing our content to become integral components of their own education and training. 

For the highest-level educational experience through our state-of-the-art learning management system (LMS), we collaborate with industry entities:

• By customizing content—in its entirety or in smaller bites—to enhance and elevate a company’s education at the entry level
• By licensing our destination and niche market courses (e.g., we offer licensing of our Group Travel Specialist Course)
• By creating learning opportunities through certification study groups and so much more. 

Our team will continue to run with the torch of providing custom education to many organizations—large and small—giving them the tools and content they can use to support their own training. We stay focused and embrace emerging technologies and industry shifts and trends with the ultimate non-profit mission of increasing professionalism and knowledge in our industry. 

Gary Pollard, CTC, our current Board Chair, explains it this way: “At The Travel Institute, we recognize the pivotal role of tailored training of travel professionals and organizations. We use our diverse range of educational resources to ensure that every agent’s quest for excellence is navigated with confidence and expertise. Ultimately, certification should be the goal for every travel professional who is looking to make this a career and to apply the knowledge learned in these programs, day in and day out. Earning your CTA, CTC, or CTIE designations is the icing on the cake. Click here to listen to Gary’s 60th Anniversary message. 

Thank you, Matthew Upchurch, CTC, Brian Robb, CTIE, and Gary Pollard, CTC for your continued leadership as, together, we strive to bring the highest quality education and standards to our industry.