Many people are unclear about the travel industry. Travel
agents are often thought to be the same as real estate agents. Becoming
a travel agent or more specifically a home based travel agent is an
exciting career change or retirement option. Some people do it full time
while many do it as a part time business.
A travel agent books travel for customers and is paid by suppliers a
commission on the booking. For bookings that suppliers do not pay a
commission on, a travel agent also can charge the client a service fee
for his/her time. An example is if you were to book a hotel for a
client, the hotel would then send a check to the agency after the client
checked out.
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Most hotels pay 10% of the price of the hotel before
taxes and fees. A $100 per night hotel reservation would mean $10 a
night for the travel agent who made the booking. This hotel would cost
the same whether the customer uses a travel agent or books through the
hotel directly. In many cases the travel agent can get a better price.
It costs the customer nothing to use the travel agent unless the travel
agent charges service fees.
Can anyone do this? In order to work with suppliers,
you must have an account set up with the supplier.
Most require an agency to hold an IATAN, CLIA or ARC
number. IATAN stands for International Airlines Travel Agent Network.
CLIA stands for Cruise Lines International Association. ARC stands for
Airline Reporting Corporation. Each of these memberships requires
different things including sales, money in the bank, experience or
training in the industry, and membership fees. Many will require Errors
and Omissions insurance of $1,000,000 or more.
For the average travel agent, membership is not a
possibility with some organizations so the agent will team up with an
agency and work as an independent agent or outside agent. There are also
advantages of working with an agency because most travel agents cannot
make enough in sales with a particular supplier to obtain higher
commission levels and bonuses. Working with an agency with many agents
can increase the commission percentages the agent gets because of the
joint sales of all the agents at the agency. Support is also a very
important aspect of being a successful agent. Agents who do not work
with others tend to feel more isolated and have to learn to do it all
solo. Since no agent can have the experience of being everywhere in the
world or staying at every hotel or resort, having others that you can
get advice from is really helpful.
The future of travel agencies is always questioned.
The truth is the industry has changed in many ways. Some changes were
for the better, some for the worse. Many airlines have cut commissions
for travel agents. However, there are many other suppliers who are
paying travel agents more than they were ten years ago. Cruises used to
be booked by only the rich and now people in every income book cruises.
Each year more and more people go on cruises. Most people say they want
to go on a cruise at least once and many who go on their first come home
to want to book another.
You can earn commission on many travel reservations.
* Hotels
* Rental Cars
* Tour Packages
* Cruises
* Some airline tickets
* International airline tickets
* Travel insurance
* Ground transportation including limos
* Attraction tickets
* Train tickets
People all need travel arrangements at some point in time. Those who
take road trips need hotel reservations. Those who need to travel for
business need airline tickets, rental cars, and hotel reservations.
Families want to experience vacations with their loved ones. People
visit family and relatives. Most people who win money say they are going
to spend it to take a nice vacation. Newly married couples go on
honeymoons. You are not selling something that is hard to sell. People
contact you for help, you are not calling them or approaching them
trying to sell them something they don’t want.
Educating the public is the main thing any travel agent must do. Most
people put travel agents into the same category as real estate agents.
They believe it costs additional to use a travel agent. This is untrue.
In many cases a travel agent can get a better price than the general
public through the suppliers who work only with travel agents. Many
people do not know all the options for booking a vacation. A good travel
agent does. Once people are educated on how a travel agent gets paid,
they are more willing to work with travel agents. If a person knows that
if he or she let you book a hotel and it will cost the same price
regardless, she or he will work with you. It is important to let people
know how you can help them save time and money on their travel
arrangements.
So how do you get into the industry? Many people think they must go to
school or become certified. This is not true. You can get into the
industry and begin training. I don’t recommend anyone spend thousands
on a travel school until he or she knows this is a career that he or she
will really want to pursue. The truth is you do not have to spend
thousands to get trained. There are many courses free to travel agents
from suppliers. There are also organizations such as ICTA (Institute of
Certified Travel Agents) who offer courses as you get more years
experience in the industry. CLIA also offers courses. There are some
agencies that will offer training. Even if you decide this is a career
you would like to pursue, you do not need to spend thousands to become
an educated and competent travel agent. There are many courses you can
take with suppliers and organizations to get a better education in
travel. I truly believe a hands’ on approach is the best way to become
a better travel agent. Learning to work with suppliers and how to find
the information your clients need is an important part of becoming a
good travel agent.
How can you find an agency to work with? There are a few organizations
dedicated to independent travel agents. NACTA and OSSN are the top
organizations. NACTA stands for National Association of Commissioned
Travel Agents. OSSN stands for Outside Sales Support Network. You can
also search online for home-based travel agent programs. I would never
recommend anyone spending a lot of money to start this business. It is
key to first try and see if it is something you would really want to do
and get training before you invest too much money into it. Get involved
in the industry first and see if it is really a career that is best for
you.
Copyright 2004 Jennifer Dugan
About The Author |
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Mother of two who started a home-based travel agency in 1997.
She has over 200 outside agents working with her agency and is
active in the travel industry. She has been an agent since
1993. She is the author of three ebooks.
Jennifer Dugan CTA
Owner of Dugan's Travels
Travel agent since 1993
http://www.duganstravels.com\
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