Become a Travel Agent

Travel META Search and Your Future
Tom Ogg

Wow! I never thought that my last article about PPC search portals would garner such response. I have talked to old friends and new acquaintances alike about the current evolution of e-commerce on the Internet. One guy actually called me up and told me that he didn’t see the relevance to the home-based travel community I was focusing on something that might be a negative for home-based travel agents. I received a call from the ex-CEO of a major cruise line that was involved in the very essence very essence of the article. That was an especially interesting conversation.

But, the call that I got that was the most rewarding was from an agent in Colorado that had attended one of my “Internet Now!” seminars that I did in Denver back in 1997. I had not talked with her since the seminar and she had taken the leap into the Internet in a big way after the seminar. She had gained the number two position in Google for the search keywords “Honeymoon Travel” and several variations of these keywords. She had been so busy as a result of her search engine positioning, that she had not taken time to keep up on what was happening on the web. My article was a huge wake-up call for her.

Now, I know this lady to be bright, aggressive and very effective. She was currently benefiting from her efforts of plowing up new terrain years ago by developing a niche, keyword-oriented website that had propelled her into prosperity and success. She had read the article and wondered how it might affect her business in the future if PPC Search Portals became the primary way clients searched to purchase travel. She had a ton of questions, so I thought I would share some of them here.

“I don’t get this whole PPC thing. How is it different than earning commission?”

Think of PPC as kind of like a commission, but instead of earning it when something is sold by you, you earn it when you refer someone to the payer’s website to buy it. It is kind of like being a referral agent rather than a client’s travel agent.

“Won’t this affect travel agents negatively if it comes to pass?”

It could, if a travel agent has not adapted to the reality of the PPC, PPA and Revenue Share model. Let’s face it. The Internet continues to evolve and to empower consumers in ways we never even imagined a few years ago. Many industry gurus (and techies) are seeking the next level of travel search and it is quite likely they will find it. Who would have thought even five years ago, that Google would have happened?

“What can I do to take advantage of this trend?”

Travel agents are in a very special position to exploit the opportunity that PPC search portals may create. First of all, consumers still want the same information that they would depend on a travel agent for. They want unbiased and honest opinions and recommendations for their upcoming travel experience, be it a cruise, resort, motor coach vacation, hotel stay, FIT or any other travel plans. Clients congregate at content rich on-line communities for acquire this information more and more every day. Travel agents are in a perfect position to create these non-biased on-line communities.

“What is an Affiliate Program?”

Affiliate marketing has become an important vehicle for Internet commerce. Affiliate marketing was really evolved by Amazone.com as a way to offer books through other websites that had a niche following. An “Affiliate” would join Amazon/com’s program and an account would be created whereby they would participate in the revenue that was created from sales referred from their website (s).

Today, there are thousands of affiliate programs of interest to travel oriented websites. These affiliate programs offer website owners an opportunity to earn money by referring clients. They may pay simply for a referral so that every time a potential client clicks onto their site, the referring website earns money (PPC, Pay Per Click). Google’s AdSense is an example of this type of program. They may pay when someone who clicks through completes a certain defined task (PPA, Pay Per Action). Carnival Cruise Line’s new affiliate program pays website owners $2.00 for every completed request for pricing that is referred by an affiliate website owner. Rail Europe pays a straight 5% commission per completed sale. This type of transaction is known as PPS, or Pay Per Sale. PPS is also known as Revenue Share and is the future of web e-commerce. Affiliate marketing is becoming an established distribution channel as verified by the presence of companies such as Google, Carnival Cruise Lines and Rail Europe.

Now that Carnival has launched an affiliate program, I can’t imagine that Royal Caribbean, NCL, MSC and other cruise lines will not follow suit with a more realistic and aggressive program. All travel products lend themselves nicely to affiliate marketing programs and it doesn’t take much imagination to see where this will all go. When PPC Search Portals evolve into dominance on the web, I guarantee you they will offer affiliate programs that will be even more lucrative than Google’s AdSense program.

“What Should I Do Now?”

I hate to be a broken record but there is no better time to become familiar with the ebb and flow of e-commerce than right now.

…Run a Google AdWord campaign (www.Google.com/AdWords/)

…Stick Google AdSense on your web site (www.Google.com/AdSense?)

…Get involved with Overture and run a campaign with them (www.Overture.com).

…Build content and community into your website.

…Be aware of where your visitors come from and how to get more of them.