Most of us enjoy travel, so a home based travel business is something we can all relate to.

This post was inspired by a friend who has successfully run a small travel business from home for many years. They use the internet to ensure their customers are kept up to date with the latest offers. Their customers are mainly friends and family who find it more convenient and comfortable to buy off someone they know very well.

One of the secrets to being successful in any undertaking is to work at something you enjoy.

Whatever your chosen home business, it will take lots of hard work to be successful. If you don’t enjoy what you do, the chances are better than even that you will give up before success is achieved.

On the other hand if you enjoy your work, the hard work will be fun and there is a better chance you will stay the course long enough for success to come to you.

I have yet to meet any-one who doesn’t like to travel !

Every year, $5 trillion is spent on travel. It’s big business. Travel and tourism is said to be one of the world’s fastest growing industries. Expected to reach $10 trillion annually by 2010.

With increasing wealth and an aging population in developed counties, there is good reason to expect this trend to continue for many years to come.

Enter the internet, more and more people are booking their travel online. They avoid lineups at the travel agency, you can compare prices and book 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While clients take advantage of this simple way of booking a trip, you can take advantage of working from your home.

Even if you do not want to have a full time home-based travel business, you could earn enough to give yourself free trips and share discount travel with your friends. You can earn enough for a decent second income even if your time is limited.

Being a home-based travel agent means making available travel products produced by someone else. You can do it two ways.

Referral Agent
Referral agents do not actually book or sell travel products. Instead, they simply refer people to a travel agency or travel agency’s web site. That travel agency’s staff do all the work of closing the sale and making the booking. The referral agent receives a percentage of the commission that the travel agency gets from the supplier (the cruise line, the airline, the hotel, or whatever), in exchange for steering the customer to the agency. The referral agent also typically has the opportunity to book their personal travel through the agency and effectively receive discounted travel.

Travel Agent
With this option you do a lot more than the referral agent. You work with their clients to determine what kind of travel experience the client is looking for. Then research the available options, speaking directly with the travel supplier. Finally present the options to the client, help the them make a decision, and make the booking arrangements with the supplier. In exchange for doing all this work, you receive a much higher percentage of the commission than the referral agent.

Where to Start
Starting a home-based travel business is not complicated. There are many online sites that will help you get started. You don’t need a lot of money to start out and you can get plenty of information and support. They can help you get started in an orderly manner and have a professional home-based travel business ready to go.

There are numerous places online to find discount travel packages, coastal vacations, and many other travel ideas. You can choose whom you will work with and enjoy the benefits of helping others. You will find the business opportunity is only limited by your time and motivation.

First, shop around for the best deals. The financial arrangements vary widely. But don’t worry too much. The nature of the business is that if you find a better deal, it’s easy to switch agencies. You can even deal with more than one agency at once.

Second, start small. Don’t make a big investment in training or equipment until you find out that the travel agent business is for you. If you decide you like the travel game, you can invest in your business as it grows.

Third, make a commitment to learning. One of the great things about this business is that the suppliers provide free educational seminars, low-cost training videos, and all sorts of other helpful information to travel agents. There are also professional organizations that offer educational opportunities.

How much money will I make?
That’s hard to answer because it depends on a lot of variables. For example, the commission paid. It’s pretty standard to split the commission 50-50 but you can get 70% of the commission from a host agency and some agencies offer the 80%. So you have to shop around.

Another factor is what you’re selling. Domestic airfares won’t make you much money. But selling cruises, tours, and resort packages can earn you $200 to $500 in commissions for every sale.

Finally, there’s the question of your time commitment and how good a business person and sales person you are. If you can make one $200 commission each week, you’ve got a nice part-time income. Do that once a day and you’re on your way to a nice living.

If you are interested in looking into this further here are a few links to get started:

Filed under: Opportunities

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