The development of agency
Many people are unsure of the travel industry. Travel agents are often believed to be the same as real estate agents. Becoming a travel agent or more specifically a home based travel agency 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 paid by the suppliers a commission on the reservation. For bookings that suppliers do not pay a commission to a travel agent also can charge the customer a service fee for his / her time. An example is if you could book a hotel for a customer, the hotel would then send a check to the Office 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 night for the travel agency that made the reservation. This hotel would cost the same whether the customer uses a travel agent or book 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 someone do this? To work with suppliers, you must have an account with the supplier. Most require an agency to hold an IATAN, CLIA or ARC number. IATAN stands for International Airlines Travel Agents 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 agency, membership is not a possibility with some organizations so the agent will team up with an agency and works as an independent agent or outside agent. There are also advantages to working with an agency because most travel agents can not 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 may be due to the joint sale of all stakeholders in the firm. 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 everything solo. Since no agent can have the experience of being everywhere in the world or staying at any hotel or resort, with others 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 for the better, some for the worse. Many airlines have cut commissions for travel agents. But there are many other suppliers who will pay travel agents more than a decade 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 attend her come, first home to want to book another. You can earn commission on many reservations. Hotels Rental Cars Tour Packages Cruises Some airline tickets International flights Travel Insurance Ground transportation including limos Attraction Tickets Train tickets People need all the travel arrangements at any time. Those who take road trips need hotel reservations. Those who need to travel on the airline industry need tickets, rental cars, and hotel. Families want to experience the holidays with their loved ones. People visit family and relatives. Most people who win money say they will use them to take a nice vacation. Newly married couple go on honeymoon. You are not selling something that is difficult to sell. People contact you for help, you are not calling them or approaching them trying to sell them something they do not want. Educating the public is the most important thing any travel agent must do. Most people put travel agents in the same category as real estate agents. They think it costs extra to use a travel agent. This is not true. In many cases, a travel agent can get a better rate than the general public through the suppliers who work only with travel agents. Many people do not know all the options to book a holiday. A good travel agent does. When people are educated on how an agent gets paid, they are more willing to work with travel agents. If a person knows that if he or she lets 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 plans. So how do you get into the industry? Many people believe that they must attend school or become certified. This is not true. You can enter the industry and begin training. I do not recommend anyone spend thousands on a travel school until he or she knows this is a profession that he or she really wants to drive. The truth is that 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 agencies) which offer courses as you get more years of experience in the industry. CLIA also offers courses. There are some agencies that will offer training. Even if you decide this is a career that you want to drive, you need not 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 collaborate with suppliers and how to find the information your customers need is an important part of becoming a good travel agent. How can you find an agency to work with? There are some organizations for independent travel agents. NACTA and OSSN are the top organizations. NACTA stands for National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents. OSSN stands for sale outside the Support Network. You can also search online for home-based travel agent program. I would never recommend anyone to spend a lot of money to start this business. It is the key to first try and see if there is something you really want to do and get training before you invest too much money in it. Get involved in the industry first and see if it really is a profession that is best for you. Jennifer Dugan CTA Owner of Dugan's Travels Travel agents since 1993 [http://www.duganstravels.com] Copyright 2004 Jennifer Dugan
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