Issues In The Travel Agency Business

Travel agents provide a service that most Americans take for granted. Unlike many other businesses, most Americans do not have daily contact with travel agents. We often forget that travel agents play a vital role in ensuring that Americans reach their intended destinations. They are a critical small business in many American communities. This Congressional hearing exams issues that are affecting the financial viability of the travel agency business. Technology has progressed to the point where many consumers are no longer using travel agents to purchase tickets or plan their holidays; rather they are using the Internet to investigate fares, see pictures of resorts and make reservations. New companies such as OneTravel.com and Orbitz were formed to take advantage of this new technology. This new technology even has affected how the federal government contracts for the provision of travel agency services. If there are cheaper and better ways for businesses to provide services than through travel agents, then the market has spoken. Travel agents will have to adapt to the changing economy just as many other small businesses have in the information age.

Empowering Individuals to Start and Succeed as a Home Based Travel Agent for over 25 years! A comprehensive workbook to compliment the Independent Study Guide. This workbook will speed you on your way to opening your own Home-Based Travel Business by helping you discover your opportunities and focusing on developing them. The workbook concentrates on the key areas needed to get through the maze of information and confusion encountered when first starting out. Broken into three separate sections, the workbook first deals with the key concepts in the study course. Over 100 concepts are explored, as they relate to your business plans. This will help you focus on the most important information in the course, as it pertains to you. While the "How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency" is a must read, the workbook continues your critical thinking and education before you begin your journey. "There is so much to learn as an entrepreneur in the travel industry. It's not just about booking travel. It's also about launching your own business and setting it up for success. That is why "How to Start a Home Based Travel Agency" is such a critical resource for those new to the industry, or making a move to an independent contractor status. It is filled with practical tips and real-world advice that can be applied immediately. We value this textbook so highly that we include it in our entry level program curriculum, the TRIPKit." - Guida Botelho, CTIE - Director of Education for The Travel Institute About the Authors: The Ogg Family has a cumulative tenure in the travel industry of over 100-years. Their experience and understanding of the Home Based Travel Agency opportunity, combined with their enthusiastic entrepreneurial spirit, make this title a must read for those looking to either start a home based travel business or to further their success as a Travel Professional. To Access More Tools to help you get started as a HomeBased Travel Agent, visit www.HomeBasedTravelAgent.com.

Changes within the travel industry, such as globalization, consumerism, and advancements in technology, have transformed travel agencies into highly competitive businesses. To remain successful, new business approaches and models must be created in the global tourism and hospitality industry. Travel companies continue to expand their businesses in different countries and seek to collaborate with international entrepreneurs, developing the need for cross-cultural strategies and policies. As travel agencies flourish, identifying these business practices is necessary for these organizations to obtain a competitive management model at the global level. The Handbook of Research on International Travel Agency and Tour Operation Management gathers the latest methodologies, tools, models, and theories regarding tourism development and sustainability into one comprehensive reference source in order to promote, manage, and maximize the profitability potential of travel agencies and tour operation services. Featuring research on topics such as e-marketing, medical tourism, and online travel, this book provides travel agents, managers, industry professionals, researchers, academics, and students with the necessary resources to effectively develop and implement organizational strategies and models.

Provides students with the information they need to handle the day-to-day operations of a travel agency. This text presents explanations and discussions of such topics as: job descriptions of personnel, financial planning and accounting, preparation of sales and ARC reports, client billing, and commissions tracking.

This book is based on the concept of travel agency management. A reader will be acquainted with various concepts, such as promotion of new tourism and travel destinations, procedures and formalities of travel agency, financing and marketing and regulatory laws for tourism business in India.

"Travel is no longer a past-time but a colossal industry, arguably one of the biggest in the world and second only to oil in importance for many poor countries. One out of 12 people in the world are employed by the tourism industry which contributes $6.5 trillion to the world's economy. To investigate the size and effect of this new industry, Elizabeth Becker traveled the globe. She speaks to the Minister of Tourism of Zambia who thinks licensing foreigners to kill wild animals is a good way to make money and then to a Zambian travel guide who takes her to see the rare endangered sable antelope. She travels to Venice where community groups are fighting to stop the tourism industry from pushing them out of their homes, to France where officials have made tourism their number one industry to save their cultural heritage; and on cruises speaking to waiters who earn $60 a month--then on to Miami to interview their CEO. Becker's sharp depiction reveals travel as a product; nations as stewards. Seeing the tourism industry from the inside out, the world offers a dizzying range of travel options but very few quiet getaways"--