40 Tips and Resources for New Travel Agents

There's no doubt that it can be challenging navigating the travel industry landscape as a new travel advisor.

From vetting supplier partners to choosing the right host agency or consortium, wading through the near-endless options for training and education, understanding your legal liabilities, developing your business and so much more, let's face it ... there's a lot to figure out. That's why we've compiled all the best TravelAge West coverage for new advisors, creating this comprehensive resource to help you out. So, bookmark this page and start your travel agency adventure!

Is there a business topic that you wish was covered here? Please send an inquiry to letters@travelagewest.com — we would love to hear from you.

Note: This page was updated on Jan. 10, 2024.

New-to-Industry Education: Your Jumping-Off Point

Just getting started as a travel advisor? Wondering where to start? It might be time to hit the books! Here are a few resources to get you started on your advisor education and training path:

• The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Travel Advisor
• A Travel Advisor's Guide to Industry Terms
• Top Free Online Courses for Travel Advisors
• How Much Does a Travel Advisor Make?
• Want to Become a Travel Agent? TARC Just Launched Free Career Education
• ASTA Introduces New Course Covering How to Become a Travel Agent
• Community Voices: Continued Education Can Make or Break an Advisor's Success

Host Agencies and Consortia Can Be Valuable Travel Agent Allies

In addition to serving as a support system and business community, a host agency or consortium can offer advisors financial benefits, education, networking opportunities, a list of reliable suppliers and other benefits.

But before joining any network, it's crucial for advisors to do their homework on each organization in order to choose the right one.

If you're considering signing up (or making a switch), check out our Guide to Host Agencies and this Must-Read Guide to Choosing a Travel Agent Network.

Resources for Professional Development and Growing Your Customer Base

How can I build a brand for my business? What are the best ways to market myself and my services? How can I ensure I'm providing good customer service? What are the best uses for all the different social media platforms? Should I charge fees for my services — and if so, what kinds?

To answer these and other questions, check out these professional development resources:

• Why Do Travel Agents Have to Chase Their Commissions?
• Independent Travel Advisors Earned 45% More Than Hosted Advisors — And Other Differences Between These Two Agent Types
• Meet 'The Hive:' Advisors' New Peer-to-Peer Tech Platform
• 3 Tips for Navigating Difficult Conversations With Clients
• These Suppliers Pay Travel Agent Commissions On Time
• How Does Your Client Onboarding Process Stack Up?
• 3 Common Client Objections — And How to Respond
• A Travel Advisor’s Guide to Thriving With NDC Air Sales
• How to Find the Best Destination Management Company to Work With
• 3 Steps to Creating a Data-Driven Travel Business — And How it Will Transform Your Business
• How Advisors Can Get Ahead Using Artificial Intelligence
• A Travel Agent's Guide to Planning — and Selling — Accessible Travel
• How to Plan Fun, Impactful and Lucrative Black Travel Groups
• Fora Aims to Professionalize New and Part-Time Agents
• 10 Tips for Creating Travel Reels on Instagram, According to a Travel Influencer
• What Is a Travel Representation Company, and How Do They Work With Travel Advisors?
• Why a Travel Advisor-Tourism Board Relationship Can Be a Winning Combination
• The Ultimate Travel Advisor Guide to Destination Management Companies
• 5 Ways for Travel Advisors to Deal With (or Fire) Problematic Clients
• 5 Ways to Get More Bookings When on Fam Trips
• Travel Advisors Should Be Working With Influencers — Here's How to Start
• Can Travel Agents Save You Money? Maybe, But That's Not Why You Should Use Them
• 6 Boundaries That Will Help Ease Travel Agent Burnout
• New Travel Advisor Training Program Aims to Educate Beginner Agents
• How Travel Agencies Are Rethinking Fee Structures
• A Travel Advisor Guide to Charging Service Fees
• 6 Branding Secrets Travel Advisors Need to Know Now
• Outsourcing for Travel Advisors: 5 Recommendations for the Hired Help You Need
• 10 Smart and Creative Ways for Travel Advisors to Keep in Touch With Clients
• How Travel Advisors Can Effectively Market — and Earn Money — Through YouTube

Stick With Your Travel Advisor Training

Things can change fast in the travel industry, and it's imperative that advisors stay up to date on all the latest information. But that's not where your training ends, either.

Specialization can help distinguish you from other agents, whether you want to focus on destination weddings and honeymoons, a favorite region of the world, adventure travel, wellness vacations or any other niche. Regardless of what segment of the market you choose, you'll need to make sure you're an expert.

Even if you don't choose to specialize, completing education programs offered by your preferred suppliers and destination partners is always a good idea. Many partners offer rewards, incentives and tools to advisors who complete their training — plus, your certificates of completion will signal to clients that you know what you're talking about. Win-win!

Check out the travel agent training programs here to get started.

Future Leaders in Travel Retreat, Powered by TravelAge West

If you're not already attending industry events, you should be! We'd like to take this opportunity to recommend the Future Leaders in Travel Retreat, Powered by TravelAge West. It's the only event in the industry dedicated to connecting the next generation of travel buyers and sellers — designed and created especially for newer and/or younger advisors.

The 2024 Future Leaders in Travel Retreat will take place Aug. 25-28, at Hilton La Romana in the Dominican Republic. Learn more about the event and how to apply here.

If you're curious about past events, you can read about them here:

• 5 Future Leaders to Watch List, 2023
• 5 Future Leaders to Watch List, 2022
• TravelAge West Hosts 5th Annual Future Leaders in Travel Retreat
• 5 Future Travel Industry Leaders to Watch Out For
• The 2020 Future Leaders in Travel Retreat Unites Advisors and Suppliers in Their Resolve to Build Back Better
• TravelAge West's Second Annual Future Leaders in Travel Retreat Inspires and Educates
• A Deep Dive into TravelAge West’s Future Leaders in Travel Retreat

Listen and Learn: Check Out Our Trade Secrets Podcast

Trade Secrets, a podcast from the editors of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, is where travel advisors ask — and answer — questions. On each podcast, our editors ask a veteran travel advisor to help them field listeners’ questions on topics ranging from business advice to industry trends, social media and more.

If you have a question, please send an email to tradesecrets@travelweekly.com. Subscribe to Trade Secrets wherever you get your podcasts, pick up some knowledge from the featured episodes below or see all our past episodes here.

• How Do I Get Started as a Travel Advisor?
• Fam Trips: How Can They Help Your Business?
• How Do I Encourage My Clients to Travel More Sustainably?
• Should Planning Fees Be the Same for Every Client?
• How Do I Find My Travel Industry Mentor?
• Travel Advisors, Stop Using These Phrases Right Now
• How Do I Plan Travel for Transgender or Gender Nonconforming Clients?
• As a Travel Advisor, How do I Break Up With Clients?
• What Is Pre-Formed Group Travel, and How Do I Sell It?
• Why Can the Advisor-Supplier Relationship Be So Fraught?
• How Do I Transition From Being a Travel Agency Employee to an Independent Contractor?
• Should I Break Up With My Host Agency?
• Want to Sell Your Business? Here’s How
• Does Charging a Fee Mean My Client Owns Me?
• How Travel Advisors Find Success With Group Travel
• Laura Heidt of Brownell Travel on Travel Insurance
• Best Practices in Branding
• The Best Education and Training Programs for Agents

Got Legal Questions?

We're guessing you do. That's why we tapped Jeffrey Ment, a travel law attorney who previously worked as a travel advisor, to share his wealth of expertise on travel-related legal matters.

Check out some of Jeffrey's best advice below. And if you have a legal question for him, send an email to letters@travelagewest.com.

• Travel Lawyers Share the Top Ways Advisors Need to Protect Themselves
• Travel Advisors, Here’s How to Protect Yourself From Fraud
• The Top 10 Legal Issues Impacting Travel Advisors Now
• Legal Lingo: Why Travel Agents Need to Clearly Communicate a Supplier’s Terms, According to a Lawyer
• Legal Lingo: With Unruly Passengers on the Rise, Consider Adding a Behavior Clause
• Legal Lingo: Is It Legal for Countries to Require Vaccine Passports?
• 8 Lessons Learned From COVID-19, According to a Travel Industry Attorney
• Legal Lingo: What Travel Advisors Need to Know About Class-Action Lawsuits
• Legal Lingo: What Travel Advisors Should Add to Their Terms and Conditions Now
• Legal Lingo: What to Do About Those Unfair Credit Card Chargebacks
• Legal Lingo: How to Handle Legal Threats From Clients in Regard to COVID-19
• Legal Lingo: Why the Way You Market Yourself Matters
• Legal Lingo: What to Know When Hiring and Training New-to-Industry Travel Advisors

Consider How You Recruit and Hire Talent for Your Travel Agency

Whether you're already looking to hire a team or expect to do so in the future, who you recruit for your business will be an important consideration.

Learn more about recruitment and hiring here:

• Lucia Gives Travel Businesses a New Way to Hire Freelance Workers
• Why to Consider Hiring an International Virtual Assistant
• Legal Lingo: What to Know When Hiring and Training New-to-Industry Travel Advisors
• A Travel Industry Guide to Recruiting and Hiring Black Talent

The Magic of Mentorship in the Travel Business

While we're on the topic of colleagues, have you thought at all about mentorship? Here are a few things to consider:

• How Do I Find My Travel Industry Mentor?
• SmartFlyer Introduces EQTR, a New BIPOC Mentorship Program
• Community Voices: A Travel Advisor on the Power of Partnership

Surviving and Thriving: Travel Agent Success Stories

Need a little inspiration or motivation? Check out these stories of travel advisor innovation, success and determination. After all, it might just be your story that we feature next!

• How Virtuoso Rising Star Christy Menzies Reached $1 Million in Sales in 6 Months
• How This New Part-Time Travel Advisor Became Nexion’s U.S. Rising Star Award Recipient
• How the 2023 TravelAge West Trendsetter Award Winners Are Leveling Up Their Businesses
• 50% of People Are More Likely to Use a Travel Advisor Now
• These Are the Winners of the 2022 TravelAge West Trendsetter Awards
• Why Founder Jennifer Jacob Sold Explorateur Travel, and What Happens Next for the Host Agency
• Why Heather Christopher Travel Acquired Be The Travel
• New Travel Advisor Businesses That Will Help the Industry Build Back Better
• This Travel Advisor Is Serious About Building a Better Post-Pandemic Travel Industry
• This Travel Advisor Is Partnering With a Financial Planner — Here’s Why

Mental Health Matters

We all know the struggle is real some days. Don't forget to take care of yourself as you take care of your business. To that end, here are 3 Transformational Tools That Can Help Manage Stress. And, 6 Boundaries That Will Help Ease Travel Agent Burnout.

How Well Do You Know Your Travel Industry History?

The travel industry has a long and storied past, encompassing defining moments that range from the thrilling (the founding of cruise lines, the development of master-planned resorts, the invention of Instagram) to the devastating (9/11, The Great Recession, COVID-19). But how much of it do you actually know?

If you're looking to brush up, here's our list of Travel Milestones From the Last 50 Years. And if you're curious about the development of your chosen career path, check out The 50-Year Evolution of the Travel Agent. Finally, learn How the Cruise Industry Has Evolved in 50 Years to learn about one of the industry's largest markets.

Additional Travel Trade Resources

The travel business is always changing — that's why it's critical for advisors to keep up with all the latest industry news and developments. In addition to regularly reading TravelAge West, we recommend checking out our sister publications, as well, for breaking travel news, in-depth features, home-based agent advice and more travel industry coverage. Bookmark Travel Weekly, TravelPulse and Agent at Home to round out your list of resources.