Evolution of the Travel Industry

17OCT

Everyday I talk to people looking to sell travel and find their own business without putting to much money into it.  First found proper ways to teach the agents how to get going and about the industry.  After a while it became the same thing everyday almost and I am someone who like different things going on.  The Travel Industry is always changing so it kept me busy but I was always confronted with the same question at the end of the day.  How could I improve sales and keep the cost low?  Sure this is true with all industries but the Travel industry being one of the last thing people think about with a bad economy.

In the last ten years the decline of mom and pop agencies have dropped dramatically.   So what about all the hotels and cruise ships still being built?  The answer lies with their low commission compared to the larger agencies coupled with the costs of maintaining everything that comes with running a store front business.

So my father originally had started it in the 80s but hadn’t paid as much attention to it in the booming 90s.  Simple thing really,  If you travel you will talk about travel if you talk about travel you will have friends that travel.  If you travel,have friends that travel and talk about traveling you probably can give more advice than you realize.   So he gave his commission to people referred and find people to book with him.  Over the years the program evolved and was noticed when more and more people wanted to retire and sell travel.  Now we have full classes to teach travelers how to sell and market.  It is a win win for everyone the commission is split there is no point setting up shop and starting at the bottom with the corporations to compete with including the vendors themselves.

I was once told the best part of a vacation isn’t the vacation.  First it is the waiting, imagining, excitement, anticipation and of course bragging about leaving everyone while they go for an adventure.   After its the pictures, memories and experience of that adventure to share with friends.  This stayed in my mind for years I was young at the time.  Years later when I got into the industry I realized this is also the perfect time to open up, slip a card and plant the seed.  This is now one of my main points to new agents and travelers for leads.

The world is still changing.  Social media and networking is in my opinion what should be successful combination with the home based agents.  It is just the exploring and testing with the vast amounts of information online that has been some what of a challenge but will work out in the end I think.