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. 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.
Jennifer Dugan CTA
Owner of Dugan's Travels
Travel agent since 1993
http://www.duganstravels.com
Copyright 2004 Jennifer Dugan
Mother of two who started a homebased 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.
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