Starting a Travel Agency

Finding a Niche

While many travelers find and book vacations, work-related trips and family gatherings through online travel sites, there are many who still utilize the services of a travel agent or travel consultant. Find a niche to stand out from the competition and make yourself an indispensible addition to any traveler's agenda; offer more than good rates and package deals to compete with Travelocity and Orbitz. Consider specializing in areas like family reunions, offbeat cruise packages for large groups, eco-travel, educational tours, and shopping adventures or out-of-the-way, little-known destination vacations. Define your goals before you even open the doors, so that you can spend valuable start-up time and resources in the right direction.

Credentials

Whether you are starting a brick and mortar travel agency or a home-based business, there is no travel agent license that is required in any state. Providers such as airlines, cruise companies and hotels, however, typically will not work with agents who do not have some basic industry credentials. You'll want to earn a Certified Travel Associate (CTA) or Certified Travel Industry Executive (CTIE) designation from any number of training sources such as the Travel Institute. In the CTIE program, you'll study basic travel agency business plans, financial management, negotiating and marketing skills, and how to prevent credit card fraud. Join the Institute and other travel trade groups for access to the wide range of certification training programs and to increase your industry contacts. Maintain contact with industry news, changes and developments and increase your network of contacts through membership in sites such as the Home Based Travel Agent Network.

Partners

Finding the travel contacts that can provide you with the kinds of discounts and packages that you need in order to profit from your travel efforts is one of the most difficult aspects of starting a travel agency. Many start-up agencies are turning to host travel agencies through which they can receive these benefits. By partnering with a host agency such as Partners in Travel, you can have access to deals on preferred travel dealer specials, booking engine suites, and marketing and training opportunities. Independent travel agents book tours and trips through the host agency and receive commissions on the sales. Look for a host agency that specializes in your niche area and has a proven reputation of responding to independents. Some popular host travel agencies include Cruise Planners, Nexion and TPI.

Resources

• Nexion