Home Travel Agent: Will I Be Able To Live On My Home-Based
Travel Agent Salary?
Does travel to places like Fiji, Rome, Italy, Hong Kong, Bora
Bora, Paris, London, and Australia sound like something you want
to do? Would you like to stroll on secluded beaches, dine in
quaint little restaurants, or wander around in ancient castles?
If so, becoming a travel agent may be a good choice for you.
But can you really make decent money being a travel agent? Is
there a future in it?
According to the United States Department of Labor, "Industry
consolidation and increasing use of the Internet to book travel
will result in a decline in the employment of travel agents. The
Internet increasingly allows people to access travel information
from their personal computers, enabling them to research and
plan their own trips, make their own reservations and travel
arrangements, and purchase their own tickets."
So as the need for travel agents declines, so too will their
salaries. And salaries of travel agents are already low. The
United States Department of Labor, says that the "Median annual
earnings of travel agents were $26,630 in 2002. The middle 50
percent earned between $20,800 and $33,580. The lowest 10
percent earned less than $16,530, while the top 10 percent
earned more than $41,660."
So if you had years worth of experience the best you would do is
around $40,000 U.S. a year, which is very well likely to
decline. And more likely you would only be earning $25K or less
as a travel agent. That's not a very attractive salary for most
people.
So if you become a travel agent you'll have the benefits of huge
discounts on travel, but you won't likely be making money enough
to afford to travel. In fact, you'll barely have enough to cover
living expenses.
So does that mean you should look for another more profitable
occupation?
There is a solution so you can still become a travel agent. The
best way is to become a travel agent is with one of the new
travel-based network marketing organizations. You become a
travel agent of one of these travel companies and you get all
the benefits of being a travel agent.
You still make money on travel commissions, but you also make
money by helping other people become their own travel agents.
This enables you to make way more than you could as an ordinary
travel agent. In fact, if you do it right, you can make as much
in a month as many travel agents make in a year.
With the trend moving towards people making their own travel
plans, you're just helping them do what they are going to do
anyway. Everyone wins! And you get to see the world in style!