5 Career Skills You Learn by Traveling, Networking

SAPVoice: 5 Career Skills You Learn By Traveling http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2015/11/06/5-career-skills-you-learn-by-...
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31,448
By Jenny Marshall,
TripIt Contributor
In a sick twist of fate, the more

startups and companies that offer
the benefit of unlimited vacation
time, the fewer days people are
actually taking off. It’s often cited
that the pressure to appear
hard-working and the fear of how
it will look to—gasp!—take the
break you deserve, shames you
into trading the Belize beaches for
your desk chair (or, these days,
perhaps a desk treadmill).
But traveling, whether short-term

or for an extensive period of time,
offers incredibly valuable
experience that you can apply back
to the job in order to become an
even more treasured employee.
In fact, traveling and work
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performance go hand in hand.

Here’s a few career skills you learn
by traveling:
1. Cultural Awareness
It’s hard to really pinpoint the

definition of “culture,” but it exists
both in the real world and in the
office. Traveling helps you become
more culturally aware and
sensitive, and also opens your eyes
to the vast and varied cultures that
are actually out there. Apply this
back to your job in a number of
ways—you may be doing work with
clients who live abroad; you
(hopefully) have colleagues who
come from a number of different
backgrounds; and your office likely
has its very own work culture. The
ability to adapt and empathize with
other cultures is essential both
abroad and in the office.
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2. Worldly Experience
There’s only so much that office

manuals or company retreats can
teach you. Experiencing the real
world through travel crams in so
much information at warp speed.
Much of this new knowledge that
you’ll undoubtedly acquire with a
passport may have never come up
in your engineering or marketing
courses.
3. Improved Problem Solving
Traveling abroad throws all sorts

of curveballs your way. You’ll need
to think on your feet, adapt quickly
to unforeseen situations and roll
with the punches. Stepping off the
bus a stop too early in rural
Poland, or convincing immigration
that, actually, your visa isvalid
—these problems will require you
to be anything but complacent.
Navigating issues abroad—while
possibly a nightmare at the
time—provides practical
experience and skills that you can
transfer back to the workplace in
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order to become an invaluable

member of the team.
4. Gain New Perspectives
Traveling to new corners of the

globe stretches your mind and
allows you to see things differently.
Employers might call this
“thinking outside the box,” but
really, it’s just a new outlook that
comes from living and witnessing
things outside of your day-to-day
norm. It could be something as
small as the way people do laundry
in a foreign country, or as large as
entrenched political or religious
ideologies. Regardless, new
viewpoints bring about new
perspectives on the work you do.
5. Make Connections
Of course, this happens more the

longer you travel, but chances are
you’ll meet a few people while
traveling who you’ll maintain
contact with, even when scattered
around the globe. Besides the
importance on a personal level, it’s
also beneficial to your career that
you expand your connections and
networking opportunities beyond
your immediate geographical
sphere.
And these aren’t the only benefits

of travel. Depending on how long
you’re on the road, you’ll probably
improve your social skills, grow an
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appreciation for diversity, take

initiatives and risks, and possibly
even pick up some of a foreign
language. All valuable skills to then
take back to the workplace to help
you excel.
Forget about foregoing your

hard-earned vacation time in favor
of slaving away at the office. Seeing
the world provides so much
experience that you can use to
grow in your position. Now we’re
just waiting for the day all
employers not only avidly agree,
but offer to buy our plane tickets.
Convinced to take a trip? Check

out TripIt Pro!
This story originally appeared

on TripIt Blog from Concur.
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10,710
5 of 14 10/2/2016 3:34 PM
Once I’ve put my shoes back on

and taken a few deep breaths
post-security, I check the time
and realize that I have a full hour
before I need to board my flight. As
a working mother who travels
frequently for both business and
pleasure, it is rare that I have an
hour to dedicate solely to shopping
off-line and I am ready to spend.
And I’m not talking about
magazines and potato chips.
Airport retail is morphing from
sundries and souvenirs to luxury
goods and brand experiences as
retailers take advantage of the
captive audiences they have during
that ‘golden hour’ between security
and boarding. Luxottica, an Italian
maker of sunglasses, refers to
airport sales as “the Formula 1 of
retail”. Sales at airports are
expected to grow by 73% from
2013 to 2019, predicts Verdict
Retail, a consultancy (The
Economist).
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AIRPORT RETAIL SALES

EXPECTED TO GROW 73% BY
2019 VIA @VERDICTRETAIL
One of my most memorable airport

retail experiences took place in
Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport at 5AM
local time. I had arrived extra
early, as advised, for an
international flight to Paris and
thanks to short security lines- I
had plenty of time to kill.
Following the requisite visit to the
espresso stand, I hit the stores
hard and while it wasn’t quite the
uber shopping experience of the
Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, it was a
great opportunity to pick up some
last minute souvenirs and a few
regional specialty items at
competitive duty-free prices for
myself as well. During my brief
layover in Paris, my shopping
spree continued at Charles De
Gaulle where I was offered a glass
of champagne in the Hermes
boutique and was tempted by the
wide selection in the Longchamp
store. Brands are clearly beginning
to embrace the captive audiences
in airport terminals but the
opportunity is much bigger.
English: Swarovski store at Frankfurt

Internat...
English: Swarovski store at Frankfurt International
Airport. Polski: Sklep sieci Swarovski w terminalu
portu lotniczego w Frankfurcie. Español: Una tienda
Swarovski en el Aeropuerto Internacional de
Fráncfort. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It seems that I am not alone in this
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new category of travelers, who

consider shopping an integral part
of their travel experience. In a
recent survey by JCDecaux ,
96% of people interviewed agreed

that they enjoy shopping when
visiting a foreign city
83% consider that shopping is an

important part of their trips
68% choose their travel

destination according to the
shopping opportunities and
available brands at a location
Duty Free shopping is their

preferred point-of-sale (75% buy
in Duty Free shops, with 78%
shopping on their return trip).
High street stores are also

important, with 70% of Global
shoppers buying in department
stores, 62% in luxury brands’
stores and 55% in perfumeries
Travel retail is clearly a burgeoning

space but speaking as both a
consumer and a marketer- I see
four huge missed opportunities to
engage with their customers and
increase sales both inside and
outside of the terminal. If and
when airport retailers take
advantage of the modern tactics
used by the leading commerce
companies- they will be a force to
reckon with in the industry.
Missed Opportunity #1:

Promotions
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Promotions are an age-old tactic

leveraged by retailers to bring
traffic to their stores and their
websites. Setting aside the
duty-free discounts, I have never
once seen a promotion offered by
an airport retailer. A few weeks
ago, I was waiting for my flight to
board in the Philadelphia Airport
when the airline announced that
we would be delayed two hours
due to equipment repair. The
airport departure schedules were
immediately updated with the new
time and so were my various travel
related apps on my mobile phone. I
gazed down to the terminal where
the shops and restaurants were
located and decided that would be
my entertainment for the next two
hours. But not one of the airport
retail establishments competed for
my business by tempting me with
discounts nor did they offer me a
“flight delay special” on cocktails
which might be the equivalent of
happy hour for airport bars and
pubs. Don’t wait for me to come to
you- ensure that your promotion
makes its way to my mobile device
first. Flight data is readily available
and I see a missed opportunity if
retailers aren’t leveraging it to offer
promotions to travelers.
Missed Opportunity #2: Data

Driven Shopping Experiences
Airport retailers *should* know
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precisely when flights will land

with what number of passengers
from which location, offering the
ability to adjust their offering of
products or price points in order to
offer a more personalized shopping
experience. Those who leverage
this data will undoubtedly gain a
competitive advantage over the
stagnant retailers in airport
terminals. World Duty Free Group
(WDFG), Heathrow’s “anchor”
retailer, smartly plugs flight arrival
and destination location data into
its software so that speakers of the
right languages and cultural
sensitivities will be on hand to
welcome shoppers of certain
nationalities. There is power in
knowing that Brazilian women are
happy to have a perfume spritzed
on their bodies; with the Chinese
you should use a tester. Store
displays can be reconfigured to suit
national tastes. For morning flights
to Barbados, savvy liquor stores
know to stock the cognac
“gondola” with bottles of
Courvoisier and Hennessy;
cheaper brandies take their place
for afternoon flights to America
and Norway.
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Customer Loyalty Programs
The airlines, hotels, and rental car

companies have all recognized the
power of loyalty programs in the
travel industry and it seems airport
retail is the last, but not least, to
join the party. More airports are
supporting their retail tenants by
offering centralized loyalty and
reward programs for customers.
Travelers passing through BWI
Thurgood Marshall Airport can
now earn frequent flyer miles and
hotel rewards points without ever
stepping foot on an airplane. BWI
recently announced a
partnership with Georgia-based
rewards company Thanks Again,
which ties shopping, dining and
parking at airports across the
country to airline and hotel
rewards programs.

Customer Engagement
Beyond Transactions
Travel retail presents many
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opportunities for brands beyond

sales transactions. Airports, with
their captive audiences and
promotional spaces, are “media”
and airport travelers are known to
be more receptive to marketing
messages than the average
consumer, as they are effectively
‘stuck’ in airports in search of
entertainment. While I have seen
auto manufacturers leverage
airports as showrooms for their
latest vehicle models, few other
consumer or B2B brands have
taken advantage. I could easily see
myself interacting with a brand
showcase in an airport and would
certainly be receptive to spending
part of my ‘golden hour’ engaging
in a food or wine tasting, getting a
cosmetic make-over, or even
agreeing to see a demo of the latest
marketing software. These brand
experiences would travel far
beyond my time in the airport and
potentially reach my extended
social network via social media.
This article was originally

posted on a new webzine for
leaders in commerce, sales,
and marketing- The Customer
Edge.
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SAPVoice: 5 Career Skills You Learn By Traveling http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2015/11/06/5-career-skills-you-learn-by-...

In a sick twist of fate, the more

But traveling, whether short-term

In fact, traveling and work

performance go hand in hand.

It’s hard to really pinpoint the

There’s only so much that office

3. Improved Problem Solving

Traveling abroad throws all sorts

order to become an invaluable

4. Gain New Perspectives

Traveling to new corners of the

Of course, this happens more the

And these aren’t the only benefits

appreciation for diversity, take

Forget about foregoing your

Convinced to take a trip? Check

This story originally appeared

Once I’ve put my shoes back on

AIRPORT RETAIL SALES

One of my most memorable airport

English: Swarovski store at Frankfurt

It seems that I am not alone in this

new category of travelers, who

96% of people interviewed agreed

83% consider that shopping is an

68% choose their travel

Duty Free shopping is their

High street stores are also

Travel retail is clearly a burgeoning

Missed Opportunity #1:

Promotions are an age-old tactic

Missed Opportunity #2: Data

Airport retailers *should* know

precisely when flights will land

Missed Opportunity #3:

The airlines, hotels, and rental car

Missed Opportunity #4:

Travel retail presents many

opportunities for brands beyond

This article was originally

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