Start Your Own Travel Agency
Worldwide, over a trillion dollars are spent on
travel each year; over six billion in North America
alone.
Travel was the second largest employer in the U.S.
and Canada, supporting over 6 million jobs.
Travel represented 7% of the U.S. and Canadian
Gross National Product. 65% of U.S. and Canadian
residents took at least one trip over 100 miles.
Nearly 42,000 travel agencies averaged $22,500
each week in airline ticket sales. Agencies book an
additional 40% in tours, cruises, hotels, etc.,
therefore making the average travel agency volume
$1,500,000, according to the U.S. Department of
Commerce.
Net profits average 4% to 5%, making the potential
net profit in a travel agency $60,000 to $70,000.
The travel industry has been growing even during
the recent recession and is now experiencing
unprecedented growth worldwide.
You can start your own travel agency, which can be
operated from your home, for under $10,000, including
required training, operations manuals, reservations
software and access to the airlines reservations
computers, and initial supplies (stationery, posters,
brochures).
These services are provided as part of a package
by TPI Travel Services, who also provide a TPI photo ID
card for immediate free and reduced rate travel
benefits.
You also receive the right to use the TPI name and
its trademarks. This will make it much easier for you
to obtain high profit commercial accounts, as they
supply you with references of existing accounts
serviced by TPI.
The commissions are also higher than you would
receive as an independent travel agent, because TPI has
volume contracts with airlines, cruise lines, and other
suppliers and passes the increased commission on to its
agencies.
This is one of the easiest ways to get into the
travel agency business, and is a fraction of the cost
of doing it independently. If an investment of this
size is in your budget, you'll want to look into this
opportunity, as starting a travel agency from scratch
can easily cost $25,000 to $50,000.
If you can't afford an investment this large, you
might want to get one or more partners to share the
deal with you. Another successful strategy can be to
line up commitments from one or two large business
customers for their travel needs, and then use those
commitments to make the investment more interesting to
a partner.
