Looking for At Home Cruise Consultants to answer ?'s...

[errie6]

Hi,

 

I'm an avid cruiser in my early 30's living in California and was maybe interested in being a cruise consultant as my own business. I had a couple questions though and you can always feel free to email me if you don't want to post anything personal here. I really enjoy cruising and I am the go to person at my work if anyone has vacation questions so I know I'd enjoy doing this for myself as a side job.

 

I was just wondering if you do it on your own or are you with a company and how you got started. Can you reasonably make enough money as a full-time job and how is the compensation? Also, if you are with a company are you offered free or discounted trips/vacations to try them out? Any and all information is greatly appreciated since I don't know where to start looking. :) Thanks!

[kitty9]

If what you mean by a cruise consultant is a cruise travel agent, there are a few routes you can explore. You can open your own agency, be it in a brick and mortar building or in your own home. The start up costs can be rather high for a do-it-yourself. You can be an independent agent working out of a large agency. For that, you basically "rent" your space in that agency. For some independents, they do a percentage share with the owner of the agency. You work out your own deal, but if you're an independent contractor with a large agency, many do either an 80/20, 70/30, or 60/40 split. Or you can be an independent contractor and work out of your own home. For that, the splits are usually higher in your favor.

[wasup254]

How do you get started? what is the first step?

 

I get emails all the time as to "starting a travel business". What to look for to call it legit? How much money is the norm for an investment?

 

Malrene

[kitty9]

The first thing is, never do anything with those emails you receive. They're bogus and will only take your money. First step is to take travel related courses at your local community college. Those will prepare you to understand the lingo and equipment travel agents use. Then contact local travel agencies and see if they are taking on independent contractors. If you want to do this on your own, you need to set up something like Sabre in order to book flights, set up a home office and go from there. The costs of doing this out of your home is more expensive than going with an established agency and being an independent contractor.

[Cruisin2Sun]

How do you get started? what is the first step?

 

I get emails all the time as to "starting a travel business". What to look for to call it legit? How much money is the norm for an investment?

 

Malrene

 

If you're interested in doing some self-study on the subject before you move forward, The Travel Institute has one:

 

http://www.thetravelinstitute.com/cgi-bin/tti/scan/sf=display_to_public/se=1/st=db/co=yes/sf=category/se=Resources/op=eq/tf=description/sf=prod_group/se=Other%20Items/op=eq/tf=description.html?id=zjeimBKW