Age is no barrier to getting into the travel business and can even be an advantage. But the low pay can discourage older recruits from staying in the industry.

Neil Briggs’s worldwide holidays gave him insights that were the envy of his younger classmates. But despite his obvious flare for the role, his NVQ in travel services and four years as a travel consultant, Mr Briggs is now selling rail tickets in a call-centre.

Made redundant from the chemical industry in his late 40s, Mr Briggs was going through the dispiriting business of applying for every job he could. Then an advertisement in the local paper for Dearne Valley College’s travel courses set him on a change of career.

Overcoming his apprehension about going back into the classroom with so many youngsters, he soon found they respected the knowledge he had acquired through years of travel. “I don’t want an atlas, I’m taking Neil,” said one on being told they could use an atlas in their exam.

Once he had achieved his NVQ he moved from branch to branch of a travel agency, eventually acting as a relief manager. But Mr Briggs had to move on. After four years he was still on “a wage that a lot of people wouldn’t turn out for,” and is now making more money in the call centre. With the popularity of electronic booking, he is pessimistic about travel consultancy’s future. “I’ve thought about going back, but I wonder if it’s really a growing industry.”