Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Harvey, your agency has been hosting travel professionals since 1981. That would undoubtedly make you one of the trendsetters in the field and certainly your company’s longevity and strength is to be commended.

You and I have been friends and colleagues for many years now and we have both watched the home-based channel change and morph into one of the industry’s leading sales channels of distribution. Could you share with our readers some chunks of wisdom about what they should or should not be looking for when they choose a hosting partner?

•   Is large enough to give you the benefits of strong industry ties and support, but not so large that you get lost in numbers.
•   Will not attempt to steal your clients. ICT has never sold to the public.
•   Is financially stable
•   Has been in business for 30 years and pays commissions on time, every time
•   Ask if you are allowed to work directly with supplier BDMs. Are you isolated and/or limited to the questions you can ask a supplier? Such as commission and bonus amounts? If those questions are off limits, you are not getting what you deserve.
•   Is there co-op money you can tap into to help with your marketing programs?
•   Are you continually made aware of industry happenings, promotions and events, or are you on your own to get this information?
•   And, most importantly, cares about you and your success. Our Philosophy is

In these less than optimal times, agents need strong support. Through our solid and close supplier relationships, Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia are no longer impediments to closing the deal. Our agents can offer the same prices with a smile, and the personal service the Internet agencies do not give.

Many of your independent agents have been part of Incentive Connection Travel since your early beginnings. That is always a strong testament to a model that works. What is the secret?

Being part of a "Mega" franchise company might sound intriguing, but they are highly regulated and limit what you can and cannot do within your own business. As a member of Incentive Connection Travel, you are an Independent Contractor, and as such, are governed by the IRS rules for IC’s. You are entitled to run your business in any way you choose (within the guidelines of the industry, legality and good business practices), build your business to your maximum potential and should you decide to leave, you take your clients with you…..not stay as a “House Account” of your former Host Agency. Your most valuable assets are your clients and whomever you choose to affiliate with, they are yours.

The Ensemble Travel Group is one of the world’s oldest and most respected Consortium. A Consortium is like a buyers Coop, where members join together to buy in very large quantities and gain leverage in price, support and complaint resolution. Ensemble Travel Group is member owned. Incentive Connection Travel is member owner and can therefore offer greater discounts, rich and enhanced travel programs, higher commissions and support benefits because all profit is given back to it’s member owned agencies in the form of these higher commissions and programs that we fully pass on to our agents.

Some of the Ensemble Travel Group Programs we offer at no cost to all our agents are the Select Traveler, through which you can offer group rates on a one cabin sale, convenience of a Host On Board, On Board Credits, complimentary private cocktail party, bottle of wine, free Shore Excursion(s), robe or other “pillow gifts”…..all in your name as your client’s agent and at no cost to you, Agent Port, Trams ClientBase Plus, and the best Host Agency Support in the industry.

Ensemble has an outstanding Marketing Program offering mailings of full color magazines, flyers, postcards and emails throughout the year to your client base with your name, address (Cohort Segmentation). For example, a Silverseas client will not get an NCL mailing. AND we offer this Marketing Program with 100 mailing each year in your agency name, address, Logo and all contact information.....at no cost to you!

We offer Sabre 24 X 7 ticketing. Of interest is that the Host Agency owned by Sabre charges $39 per month to use Sabre…..we offer full access for $25, including Sabre Tours, Sabre Cruise and Bargain Finder Plus, free training and with no ticketing charge. Sabre is optional. But even without the res system, we offer, at no cost to you, Sabre Vacations and Sabre Cruise!

Commission on air: It is well known that our “partners in the sky” have stopped paying commission many years ago. But not so well known is that large agencies, like Incentive Connection Travel, have “private contracts” on regularly scheduled air that pays as much as 20% as well as added bonuses and upgrades. We have well over a 2 dozen such “private contracts” And should you want to sell air for commission but not take a res system......our arrangement with Air by Ensemble allows you to sell commissionable air and the ticketing will be done for you by Ensemble.

We offer access to every supplier’s booking engine including Polar One Source, Cruising Power, VAX, Apple OnLine, Sabre Tours, Travel Impressions, Carnival, Vacation Express, Sabre Cruises and so many more……all at no cost to our agents. And the client booking site, AgentPort can be incorporated free into any web site with unlimited free use. This program allows you to send out customized email promotions, with full graphics to your client base, 24 X 7, unlimited at with no cost.

Since our inception in 1981, we charge NO activation nor initiation fee. Sabre, which is optional, is $25 per month. Our commission splits range from 70-80% including top-tier, front-end, back-end and bonus commissions with all major suppliers and many minor, regional suppliers as well, like 16% with regional Vacation Express. We pass on the total commission amount and bonuses to our agents at their split level. Agent earned booking perks and free trips belong to the agent.

Other Hosts brag that they pay 100% commission. Can someone tell me how they cover their overhead and make a profit giving away 100%? Guess from where that profit comes? Overrides, Bonuses, Back End Commission that stays with the “House”?

How does Incentive Connection Travel help agents who work from home feel part of a larger community?

ICT is very proud to have a “family” of agents. Many of our agents have become close friends with the Siamon family even attending weddings and birthdays. Being a family operation, father, mother, son and 2 daughters and of course a very professional support staff, we have a unique opportunity to care about our agents and the feeling runs throughout the ICT community fostering “friends helping friends”. Unlike other companies that try to isolate each agent, we encourage agents to communicate through our very active Chat Email, Annual Convention, many Seminars at Sea and getting together at industry events like Cruise360, CLIA and local chapter meetings of OSSN and NACTA. Many of our agents are chapter directors. We all network in a variety of ways, including joining public and private online groups, asking questions and making recommendations. Through this community networking, our members increase their knowledge base by sharing their expertise with others in the community.

We do not have a staff of 100, so when help is needed, we know you and you know us

Incentive Connection Travel is a proud founding member of PATH (Professional Association of Travel Hosts), which is an organization that has long been needed to “police” Host Agencies. We have strict guidelines, practices and policies that must be met and maintained before a Host Agency is allowed to become a member. Any agency that does not continue to meet these guidelines will not be allowed to remain in the organization. It assures Independent Agents that strict criteria are being adhered to.

Joanie Ogg CTC MCC
Joanie Ogg Marketing Group
Editor

Joanie Ogg is a thirty-five year veteran of the travel industry and has been involved with the independent contractor evolution since 1988. She is the principal of Joanie Ogg Marketing Group, which specializes in consulting and speaking on the topic of Home-Based Travel. She also provides marketing and sales for wide variety of products under the umbrella HomeBasedTravelAgent.com.

A demonstrated industry leader, Joanie most recently served as the President of the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (NACTA) and TravelSellers. She and her husband Tom acquired NACTA in 1996 and sold it to The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) in 2000. Joanie’s tenure in the travel industry includes owning and operating one of the first successful host agency models. She has owned and operated several storefront travel agencies (both commercial and leisure), as well as a Hawaii wholesale tour company.

Her decades of success have garnered her numerous accolades over the years. Her accomplishments have been recognized by receipt of two Lifetime Achievement Awards from major trade groups, being named as one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in Travel” by Travel Agent magazine on several occasions, voted as “Travel Agent of the Year” by the readers of Travel Trade magazine, and has been recognized by many other industry organizations throughout her tenure in the industry. In 2008 Joanie Ogg was inducted into the CLIA Hall of Fame, an honor held by some of the most influential executives in the travel industry.

Joanie is a Master Cruise Counselor (MCC) and a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC). Joanie has co-authored two popular travel industry books for cruise specialists and home-based travel agents and has authored hundreds of travel trade articles. She has inspired tens of thousands of travel agents attending her presentations at trade events, cruise seminars, international trade gatherings and numerous local educational venues throughout the United States. With a time-honored background and forward-looking vision, she is often featured as a speaker at many of the travel industry’s major conferences and events. Joanie’s speaking talents are widely sought as a travel industry emcee by the most recognized travel organizations. She has emceed such events as Cruise-A-Thons, ASTA’s CruiseFest, The Trade Show, The Travel Institute Forum and all of NACTA’s National and International Conferences.


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