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July 02, 2009  

A version of the Travel Institute's well-established travel agent proficiency test has been approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs as one of scores of professional licensing and certification tests that the V.A. will pay for as part of the educational benefits it offers to military personnel.

The TAP test is branded in a listing at the V.A. website as the TraVerus Travel Agent Proficiency Test, because the host agency TraVerus will add a handful of questions to the test, according to TraVerus' owner, David Manning.
The Travel Institute and TraVerus were brought together by an ad hoc group of veterans who, according to their spokeswoman, Beverly Armstrong, were looking for "innovative ways to help veterans" and concluded that travel would be a "great industry" for them. "We believe travel translates well for military families, because they do a lot of it," she said.

Amstrong, also a veteran, said her group tapped the Travel Institute because of its educational and testing components. In addition, she said, her group researched travel companies before selecting TraVerus, an Allen,Texas-based host agency and multilevel marketing company, as a launch partner. At its website, TraVerus promotes its "business builder" package costing $399.95, which is designed for active travel sellers. A less-costly $199.95 "basic product" package is for referring agents.

Both include Web portals for booking travel as well as for selling nutrition products made by Healthy & Natural Laboratories and branded as the Verus line. TraVerus also operates a 3-year-old network marketing division that enables participants "to make money by telling others about TraVerus and Verus line of products." Armstrong declined to describe how her group made its selection, but said that "the business model was important." She added, "Mr. Manning has a mutual concern and interest in helping military families." At the V.A. website, the TAP test is identified with Blackbird Travel, a Washington-based company created by Armstrong and her fellow veterans, she said, to facilitate their project. She said she was working with all branches of the military services "to put a mechanism together" to publicize the travel option among current and former military personnel. She said her group also expects to involve others in a wider project for military families and is open to working with other travel agencies, as well.

Pat Gagnon, the Travel Institute's director of program development, said the Institute will offer participants a training package based on the Institute's existing entry-level materials, with particular emphasis on its book "Travel Career Development," authored by Gagnon and Shelly Houser. Over time, the program might include additional layers, Gagnon said, adding that not all details have been finalized. She expects the offering to launch by the end of July. Manning said TraVerus will provide its own entry training and add about 20 questions to TAP designed for this category of newcomers.

The Travel Institute and TraVerus will each receive a portion of the $399 fee participants pay to take the test. For these new participants, Manning said his company would waive its $399.95 charge for its business builder kit.