A significant number of travel coordinators didn’t apply for the job. They were executive assistants or office managers who started handling travel for their manager, then their team, then the whole company: until one day they looked up and realised they were running a travel program without the title, the salary, or the recognition to match.

If that sounds familiar, this article is for you.

The EA-to-Coordinator Path Is More Common Than You Think

The jump from EA or administrator to dedicated travel coordinator is one of the most natural progressions in corporate operations. EAs already have the core skills: organisation, stakeholder management, discretion under pressure, attention to detail. They often know the company’s travellers personally. They understand how the business works.

What’s usually missing is the formal travel knowledge (the system fluency, the supplier understanding, the policy expertise), and the confidence to frame the transition as a deliberate career move rather than a gradual drift.

Step 1: Document What You’re Already Doing

Before you can make the case for a title or salary change, you need to know exactly what you’re managing. Start by writing it down:

  • How many employees do you book travel for?
  • How many bookings per month, on average?
  • What tools do you use? What platforms have you set up or configured?
  • Have you negotiated any rates? Handled any disruptions? Written or updated any travel policy?
  • Do you manage visas or entry requirements? Handle expense reconciliation?

This inventory does two things. It shows you (and your employer) that this is a substantial and distinct function. And it becomes the foundation of your professional pitch: either internally for a reclassification, or externally when you’re writing a CV.

Step 2: Identify the Gaps

Being a capable EA who handles travel is different from being a qualified travel coordinator. The gap is usually in one or more of these areas:

Formal tool knowledgeIf you’ve been booking through a TMC portal, a basic OBT, or (worse) directly through airline websites, you may not have hands-on experience with the platforms corporate employers expect: Concur, Navan, TravelPerk, Cytric.

Policy and complianceEAs often apply a policy someone else wrote. Coordinators are often expected to own it, update it, enforce it, and explain it to travellers and managers.

Vendor and supplier managementThis includes understanding how corporate rates work, how to run even a basic hotel RFP, and how to manage a TMC relationship rather than just order through one.

Duty of care and riskUnderstanding what the company’s legal obligations are when an employee is travelling, and how to set up the basics: traveller tracking, emergency protocols, destination risk briefings.

None of these gaps are large. Most can be closed with targeted training and a few months of intentional practice. But knowing they exist is the first step to closing them.

Step 3: Make the Case Internally (If You’re Already In-Role)

If you’ve been doing travel coordination as part of a broader EA or admin role, the first conversation is usually internal: getting the title and compensation to match the work.

How to frame it:

  • Quantify the scope (“I currently manage travel for 40 employees, approximately 80 bookings per month, across 12 countries”)
  • Identify what’s changed (“This has grown significantly from when I first started handling it”)
  • Compare to market (use the salary data in our Travel Coordinator Salary Guide to anchor the conversation)
  • Propose a transition (“I’d like to formalise this as my primary role, with appropriate job title and compensation, and I’m willing to invest in the additional training to do it properly”)

Most employers who rely on an EA to run their travel function are not paying them travel coordinator rates. That’s a business risk as much as a fairness issue: frame it that way if needed.

Step 4: Build the Missing Credentials

If you’re moving externally (applying for a dedicated travel coordinator role) you’ll need to fill in the gaps that show up on the job description.

Platform experience: If you haven’t used a major OBT, try to get access. Some platforms offer free trials or sandbox environments. LinkedIn Learning and GBTA have OBT-specific training modules.

Certifications: The GBTA Foundation course is the most recognised entry point for corporate travel professionals. The IATA travel and tourism certificate is useful for understanding airline systems. Neither requires years of full-time travel work to sit.

Training: TravelCoordination.com offers practical training built specifically for people making this transition: covering the operational, policy, and vendor aspects of the role in plain language, without the cost or time commitment of a full industry qualification.

Step 5: Position the Transition on Your CV

The language matters. Here’s how to frame travel coordination experience that grew from an EA role:

Instead of: “Managed travel bookings for senior management”

Write: “Managed end-to-end corporate travel for 35 employees across EMEA, including multi-leg international itineraries, visa coordination, duty of care compliance, and monthly spend reporting. Transitioned booking process to [OBT] in 2024, reducing average booking time by X%.”

The difference is specificity and scope. You’re not someone who booked flights: you’re someone who ran a travel function.

What the Role Looks Like When It’s Properly Yours

When the transition is formalised, a few things change that are worth knowing:

You own the decisions. As an EA handling travel, you execute someone else’s preferences. As a coordinator, you’re expected to have opinions: about preferred suppliers, policy design, which OBT to use, whether a booking makes sense given the business context.

You’re accountable for the program, not just individual trips. Budget performance, traveller satisfaction, policy compliance, supplier relationships: these become your metrics, not just your tasks.

The career ceiling is higher. From travel coordinator, the natural progression is travel manager, global mobility specialist, or into consulting. From EA, the travel work often stays invisible.

Making the move officially is worth it. It’s a distinct, valued, and growing profession, and if you’ve been doing the work, you deserve the recognition.

Ready to formalise the transition?

Our 1-to-1 Travel Skills Training is designed for exactly this moment: practical, targeted, built around closing specific skill gaps so you can make the move with confidence. Book a free 15-minute call →