How to Become a Travel Agent & Start a Travel
Agency
These days, you can start your own travel agency from home with minimal cost.
You don't have to lease office space, hire a staff or buy expensive equipment. You can operate your travel
agency exclusively online and even grow a local customer base.
A common question people have about getting started is, "Do I need a travel agent
license?"
No. You are not required to obtain a specialized license to operate as a travel agent. You also do not need
to be certified. However, a general business
license is typically required to operate a business, and certification and association memberships will
certainly look good to clients.
(See also How to Start a Tour
Business)
Travel Agent Training
Although training is not required to become a travel agent, you may find it helpful, especially if you've
never worked in field. Travel agent training programs can teach you how to operate a computer reservation
system for airlines, plus popular tourist destinations and vacation packages that you'll need to know about to
better serve your clients.
There are affordable travel agent training courses online that you can conveniently compete at home. Penn
Foster offers a Travel
and Tourism Specialist Program that you can complete in as little as 7 months. You can request a free
packet from their website.
Travel Agency Business Plan
An important part of starting any travel business is a business plan. Planning prior to launch can help you
cut costs, increase profits and speed up the success of your travel agency business.
An easy way to write your plan is to view other sample travel agency business plans
first. You can get ideas, see potential start-up and operating costs and projected financials that can help you
with your own planning. From there, you can use low-cost business planning software to
turn the process into a simpler "fill-in-the-blank" task.
Professional Travel Consultant Julie Botteri has years of travel business experience, and she shares
the ins and outs of the travel industry, showing you exactly what you need to succeed.
Botteri shows you:
- How to acquire key skills, what training you need and where to get it
Steps to making a booking for your client, how
to work with suppliers and how to establish relationships that get you higher commissions
- Secrets to getting clients, including low-cost options, high-volume business travel & special
interest groups
Travel Agency Step-by-Step Plan
Travel Agency Software
As a travel agent, you will need some sort of platform for booking your trips and managing your travel
information. There are a variety of providers, and you can generally test out their programs before you buy.
This is a great way to comparison shop to find out which solution is right for you. Some popular travel agent
software programs include Dolphin Dynamics, Travel Booster and Orbitz for Agents
Travel Business Marketing
Advertise Your Travel Services
Online
If you have a vacation property, a tour business or travel service, you can get access to millions of
interested customers online with a travel directory like RealAdventures. Find customers who have money to spend
and want help planning a vacation. It can't get much easier than this. Get Your
Listing
Local
Online Search Directories
More and more people are looking for local businesses online (instead of the traditional yellow pages) - and
you don't want to miss out on this market. Local Search sources that are affordable and receive substantial
traffic include: Google Local, Yelp, Super Pages and more specialized site Trip Advisor.
Internet
Marketing Tips for Your Tourism Business
If you plan to work from home, most likely you'll want to take advantage of the internet for its low-cost
advertising benefits. The reason I like this guide is that is narrows down advertising techniques
specifically to the tourism business: you'll spend less time and money on the "trial and error"
method of marketing.
- Attract customers through free search engine listings, online directories and special linking
techniques
- Use tourism newsgroups to reach your target market
- Tips on winning awards and then using them to promote your site
- 10 ways to find great mailing lists & use email to effectively find new clients
Internet Marketing Tips for Your Tourism Business
More Travel Agency Business Resources:
Read
Next: