I was motivated to become a travel agent by a friend of mine who had been an agent for over 30 years. I saw the love she had for the industry and it really made me think about the possibilities for being an agent. I worked with her for about a year before I started my own business. This gave me insights into the business, the basic knowledge of what is needed to start a business, and the time I'd need to actually make it work.
I realized it wasn't going to be easy being a one or two person business because I'd have to take care of quite a few things including, accounting, marketing, communication, research, and booking trips. Before I even got started I needed to build a website, get social media accounts, and get set up as a business through the state. Starting a business meant starting with a good brand. I had to think of a name for my business, get a domain, and use the brand with everything I did. Even after getting the basics down, I continually learn about locations, hotels, booking sites. You have to be a life long learner to enjoy the business.
More and more people are using travel agents because they are overwhelmed with all the information on the Internet. Just because travelers aren’t calling up an agent every time they need to book a quick flight doesn’t mean they don’t want to consult an expert for a big trip. Especially when it comes to honeymoons or bucket-list trips that have a lot of moving parts — coordinating tour companies, translators, or multiple resort stays, for example— and it’s often easier to leave the logistics to someone else: travel agents.
You don’t need a specific career background to become a travel agent. So if you’re looking into how to become a travel agent for a fresh career start, that’s totally OK. You have to start somewhere on your path to becoming a travel agent, and the sooner you jump in, the sooner you’ll build your client base. On the other hand, if you’re hoping to parlay your experience in a semi-related industry, be it marketing or hospitality, that can help because you’ll have even more context for your new career. Either way, working as a travel agent can be a rewarding career path (with some fun perks), so here’s what you need to know to become a travel agent.
What Formal Training Do You Need to Become a Travel Agent?
While some four-year colleges, community colleges, and trade schools offer tourism certifications, it is not a requirement for those trying to become a travel agent. Certificates of tourism can be very helpful, but so can previous training in marketing, hospitality, or even event planning. Ultimately, your knowledge of destinations, sales, itinerary planning, and booking software will be crucial for your career as a travel agent.
In terms of the training time you need to put in before becoming a fully fledged travel agent, it all depends. You could start your career right after high school, or you could put in one to four years earning a certificate, associate's, or bachelor’s degree in tourism. Of course, you could also change course from a related career, and morph your experience as, say, a destination wedding planner into a career as a travel agent.
What Kinds of Training Programs Are Out There To Help You Become a Travel Agent?
One example of a training program is taking courses with The Travel Institute. Not only will they teach you the basics of planning itineraries, but they’ll also make sure you’re learning about new cultures, world geography, and experiences you can have all over the world. They’ll also help you decide what business route you want to take.
How to Become a Travel Agent:
Becoming a travel agent will likely mean starting your own business. On the plus side, in terms of starting a business, becoming a travel agent comes with relatively little overhead. If you’re becoming a small business owner and opening a yoga studio, for example, you need to rent a space, deal with permitting, buy supplies, build a website, and pay yoga teachers and someone to work the front desk. However, if you’re starting a business you can operate from your living room, there aren’t nearly as many upfront costs.
You will have to think about what type of business you want to become. Do you want to incorporate or become an LLC? Would you rather be a sole proprietor? Incorporating takes the most effort, and is often the most expensive. Becoming an LLC is a good happy medium, because it can help protect you as a business entity without having as many associated costs. Small business owners typically become an LLC to protect their personal assets; If you get sued as an LLC, someone can come after your business holdings, but can’t come after your house, car, or personal savings.
If you choose to remain a sole proprietor (which doesn’t require any fees or legwork), you are essentially a freelancer or independent contractor. You can be an LLC and an independent contractor, too—they aren’t mutually exclusive. If you want to be an independent contractor, it likely means you’re working as part of a larger host agency, which is smart to do when you’re starting out as a travel agent. Down the road, you can also own a franchise of a travel agency. Owning a franchise might come with more overhead costs, and that would be a reason to incorporate.
If you’re an independent contractor, you should know that your taxes aren’t going to be as straightforward as a full-time employee's might be. You may have to start keeping track of your business expenses, as you might be able to write them off. You also might not get things like health benefits from your employer. As you plan your new career, consider sitting down with an established travel agent to ask them some logistical questions: where they get their health insurance? How do they keep track of their income and expenses? Do they use an accountant to do their taxes? While meeting with the travel agent, you can discuss the pros and cons of working as a travel agent for a larger agency. If you’re not sure how to get in touch with other travel agents, consider using social media, like LinkedIn or even Instagram
.
What to Think About When You Become a Travel Agent
Once you’ve secured work as a travel agent, you’ll want to think about how you can earn more money and distinguish yourself from other agents. Here are three things to consider as you start your career:
Making commissions. If you’re working for a larger travel agency as an independent contractor, how do commissions work? Make sure you have this conversation early on before accepting the position. When you’re starting out, you want to make sure the commission rate you’re receiving is similar to the industry standard.
Growing your client base. How do you make more money as a travel agent? Clients, clients, clients. You want happy customers who will return to you every time they want to book a travel experience. You’ll want to work at keeping your clients happy by finding them great deals, curating unbelievable experiences for them, and just being great to work with.
Establishing a niche. This is by no means a requirement for how to become a travel agent, but as you establish your career, you may want to consider focusing on a specific niche. For example, maybe you’re someone who focuses on honeymoon travel, luxury travel, or adventure travel. Your niche can help you attract clients, and it can be whatever you want it to be in the travel realm, as long as there’s a need for it. Most travel agents have a niche. If you are an expert in one area, you can provide excellent knowledge to your clients about that particular location. It's like any other industry.
Remember, you may not make a lot of money, but you will have a lot of fun helping people and doing something you really love doing. Some travel agents make tons of money, but they also work tons of hours. You get out of it, what you put into it.
Judy Peterson https://www.PetersonTravelPros.com
I realized it wasn't going to be easy being a one or two person business because I'd have to take care of quite a few things including, accounting, marketing, communication, research, and booking trips. Before I even got started I needed to build a website, get social media accounts, and get set up as a business through the state. Starting a business meant starting with a good brand. I had to think of a name for my business, get a domain, and use the brand with everything I did. Even after getting the basics down, I continually learn about locations, hotels, booking sites. You have to be a life long learner to enjoy the business.
More and more people are using travel agents because they are overwhelmed with all the information on the Internet. Just because travelers aren’t calling up an agent every time they need to book a quick flight doesn’t mean they don’t want to consult an expert for a big trip. Especially when it comes to honeymoons or bucket-list trips that have a lot of moving parts — coordinating tour companies, translators, or multiple resort stays, for example— and it’s often easier to leave the logistics to someone else: travel agents.
You don’t need a specific career background to become a travel agent. So if you’re looking into how to become a travel agent for a fresh career start, that’s totally OK. You have to start somewhere on your path to becoming a travel agent, and the sooner you jump in, the sooner you’ll build your client base. On the other hand, if you’re hoping to parlay your experience in a semi-related industry, be it marketing or hospitality, that can help because you’ll have even more context for your new career. Either way, working as a travel agent can be a rewarding career path (with some fun perks), so here’s what you need to know to become a travel agent.
What Formal Training Do You Need to Become a Travel Agent?
While some four-year colleges, community colleges, and trade schools offer tourism certifications, it is not a requirement for those trying to become a travel agent. Certificates of tourism can be very helpful, but so can previous training in marketing, hospitality, or even event planning. Ultimately, your knowledge of destinations, sales, itinerary planning, and booking software will be crucial for your career as a travel agent.
In terms of the training time you need to put in before becoming a fully fledged travel agent, it all depends. You could start your career right after high school, or you could put in one to four years earning a certificate, associate's, or bachelor’s degree in tourism. Of course, you could also change course from a related career, and morph your experience as, say, a destination wedding planner into a career as a travel agent.
What Kinds of Training Programs Are Out There To Help You Become a Travel Agent?
One example of a training program is taking courses with The Travel Institute. Not only will they teach you the basics of planning itineraries, but they’ll also make sure you’re learning about new cultures, world geography, and experiences you can have all over the world. They’ll also help you decide what business route you want to take.
How to Become a Travel Agent:
Becoming a travel agent will likely mean starting your own business. On the plus side, in terms of starting a business, becoming a travel agent comes with relatively little overhead. If you’re becoming a small business owner and opening a yoga studio, for example, you need to rent a space, deal with permitting, buy supplies, build a website, and pay yoga teachers and someone to work the front desk. However, if you’re starting a business you can operate from your living room, there aren’t nearly as many upfront costs.
You will have to think about what type of business you want to become. Do you want to incorporate or become an LLC? Would you rather be a sole proprietor? Incorporating takes the most effort, and is often the most expensive. Becoming an LLC is a good happy medium, because it can help protect you as a business entity without having as many associated costs. Small business owners typically become an LLC to protect their personal assets; If you get sued as an LLC, someone can come after your business holdings, but can’t come after your house, car, or personal savings.
If you choose to remain a sole proprietor (which doesn’t require any fees or legwork), you are essentially a freelancer or independent contractor. You can be an LLC and an independent contractor, too—they aren’t mutually exclusive. If you want to be an independent contractor, it likely means you’re working as part of a larger host agency, which is smart to do when you’re starting out as a travel agent. Down the road, you can also own a franchise of a travel agency. Owning a franchise might come with more overhead costs, and that would be a reason to incorporate.
If you’re an independent contractor, you should know that your taxes aren’t going to be as straightforward as a full-time employee's might be. You may have to start keeping track of your business expenses, as you might be able to write them off. You also might not get things like health benefits from your employer. As you plan your new career, consider sitting down with an established travel agent to ask them some logistical questions: where they get their health insurance? How do they keep track of their income and expenses? Do they use an accountant to do their taxes? While meeting with the travel agent, you can discuss the pros and cons of working as a travel agent for a larger agency. If you’re not sure how to get in touch with other travel agents, consider using social media, like LinkedIn or even Instagram
.
What to Think About When You Become a Travel Agent
Once you’ve secured work as a travel agent, you’ll want to think about how you can earn more money and distinguish yourself from other agents. Here are three things to consider as you start your career:
Making commissions. If you’re working for a larger travel agency as an independent contractor, how do commissions work? Make sure you have this conversation early on before accepting the position. When you’re starting out, you want to make sure the commission rate you’re receiving is similar to the industry standard.
Growing your client base. How do you make more money as a travel agent? Clients, clients, clients. You want happy customers who will return to you every time they want to book a travel experience. You’ll want to work at keeping your clients happy by finding them great deals, curating unbelievable experiences for them, and just being great to work with.
Establishing a niche. This is by no means a requirement for how to become a travel agent, but as you establish your career, you may want to consider focusing on a specific niche. For example, maybe you’re someone who focuses on honeymoon travel, luxury travel, or adventure travel. Your niche can help you attract clients, and it can be whatever you want it to be in the travel realm, as long as there’s a need for it. Most travel agents have a niche. If you are an expert in one area, you can provide excellent knowledge to your clients about that particular location. It's like any other industry.
Remember, you may not make a lot of money, but you will have a lot of fun helping people and doing something you really love doing. Some travel agents make tons of money, but they also work tons of hours. You get out of it, what you put into it.
Judy Peterson https://www.PetersonTravelPros.com