How to open a travel agency

To start your own independent agency may cost you between $1,000 and $10,000, depending on the markets you serve and your existing book of clients.

Generally, leisure travel agencies‘ main revenue is from commissions vendors pay on vacation packages, cruises, air and other add-ons. However, consultation fees and service fees are becoming more common as agencies try to diversify income sources to become less dependent on supplier commissions.

Full time independent agents and independent contractors sold less than half as much travel, an average $388,684, yielding revenues of $47,502, or 12.2%. Corporate agents booked much higher volume, an average $1.11 million per agent, but the percent yield on those sales was much lower, an average $90,713, or 8.1%.

The BLS currently lists the average travel agent salary in 2019 as $44,690 with a range of $23,360 and $69,420 dividing the lower to upper 10% of travel agents. These results are similar to our most recent income report. We found an average income of $44,312 for hosted travel agents with 3+ years experience.

Some offer a meager $2 per reservation (regardless of value), while others based on incentives and productivity will pay commissions as high as 20%. Across the board the average commissions are 3% for Internet bookings, 3-5% on promotional rental rates and 10% on leisure rates booked through GDS distribution channels.

In truth, most of the time, travel agents don’t get free travel although they sometimes get discounts or a chance to keep the commission they would get on their own travel plans. Convention properties give them a cheaper trip to let them learn about their property on a working vacation.

According to the same study, travelers are increasingly interested in local, authentic experiences and value agents‘ destination expertise. So yes, there is inherent value to travel agents! But you’re probably reading this because you have hesitations that a travel agent career is viable.

The travel agent industry has been repositioned as a fun one to work in; it’s not a dying industry. According to Burk, Cadence has had a 40 percent increase in independent travel advisors within the past few years, and about one-third of these advisors were new to the industry when they joined the agency.

Hours/Travel

May work full time or part time, but most work 40 hours a week. May work more than 40 hours a week if self-employed. May work evenings and weekends, when people have time to plan vacations.

And lastly, travel agents are not a dying breed.

The answer: Yes, and we still account for one-third of all travel booked in the United States,” insists O’Shaughnessy. It’s still a profitable industry in the United States and there’s no reason to believe the industry is dying off.

Education, Training, & Certification

There are no specific requirements to be a travel agent, but a bachelor’s degree will open up more job opportunities, and certifications might make travel agents more marketable. Most corporate jobs that involve coordinating travel require a bachelor’s degree for employment.

You could start your career right after high school, or you could put in one to four years to earn a certificate, associate’s, or bachelor’s degree in tourism. Of course, you could also change course from a related job, and morph your experience as, say, a destination wedding planner into a career as a travel agent.

The minimum requirements for a job as a travel agent are having a bachelor’s degree in the relevant field. Experience: This industry requires experience. Customers prefer to take advice from an experienced travel agent. Besides this, experienced professionals also have a higher chance of converting queries into sales.

But travel agents, believe it or not, have access to information unavailable to you to get better deals. They obtain much of their information from the same sources as the booking sites we use. Travel agents also can make phone calls and have direct communication with resorts and hotels to bargain for better deals.