Though you may have already noticed with nearly half of travel agencies closing down since the turn of the century. There have been many struggles such as 9/11, recessions, fuel as well as other tangibles, where travel is one of the first industries to be affected. In slow times paying rent, taxes, fees and even driving to work is expensive and for small agencies who do not receive as high commission bonuses as larger agencies it forced many to close down. Even the largest agencies didn't all survive the was however increasing technologies and the need for innovation which sparked creative thinking. These out of work agents had built relationships with clients and still had connection but had just found other jobs.
The thing about travel is that it’s more than just a interest or hobby, once someone's starts to see the world they want to see it again and more of it. Traveling is in the blood of all travel agents. It is not just a job but a hobby and seeing travel agents working other places is not like them. So the concept of at home travel business and it being a part time hobby as well as money maker was a perfect combination for both agents and larger agencies. Make the same of not better money than you would if you opened a brick and mortar agency. Also receive weekly trainings and updates from different vendors top account reps and have better relationships with them. This combination has worked so well it is now being changed to find people who travel as a hobby. If you love to travel you are going to love to talk about your experiences, share photos, videos and you probably sell travel already. This is what the industry is now looking for to be a part time, at home business owner. The cruise industry building new even larger ships even in a bad economy and online sales down. So how will these extra cabins be filled...... At home agents.
Mark Gelfuso
http://mark.cruisebrothers.com
Cruise Bums
In partnership with The Cruise Brothers
http://www.linkedin.com/in/markgelfuso
