Referring business to Travel Agents?? About This Page:

[Marculi]

Hello all,

I am an American from Southern California that now lives in Germany. I have been tossing around a business idea in my head and I’d like to find out from some of you here if it’s actually a viable opportunity.

I’d like to promote California Wine Tour packages to travelers here in Europe (starting in Germany). What would be the best way to begin? Perhaps contacting California travel agencies with this proposal where I could earn a commission on the blocks of travelers I bring to them? Is this something some travel agencies would even consider? Or, do I need to go through some level of licensing in order to book my own packages--although that’s not the way I’d prefer to do it at this stage.

Ideally, what I’d like to do is stick to the promoting and selling of these packages to prospective groups of European travelers, then sending these groups to my partner agent/agency as a regular source referrals. Is this doable?

Any opinions or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Sandy_N]

I think it is doable with the right partner. Agencies are always looking to grow and good referral business is worth more to me than lots of unknown advertising. You'll have to find someone and be clear on terms for what you both are willing to do and not do and what the fees would be.

Good luck

[jodileigh]

I wonder about affiliating yourself with an online travel agency. That's how I work. Our agency is totally online. Hence, our agents are scattered throughout the country! I'm from Ks, two are in Florida, one is in Michigan, etc. The way we work is we go through training through the agency (though I also took a course some years ago), then we book through queries or direct e mail. Sometimes I have a friend who contacts me on their own and I book for them. How we handle our clients is up to our discretion. We can call and talk to them directly by phone, book entirely through e mails, or, if the client is close, we can talk to them in person. The agency owners get a certain percentage of the commissions (it varies depending on your length of time with the agency) and I get the rest via check. So, essentially, I do the promoting of myself (either through direct contact or referrals) and the agency does all the behind the scenes stuff (like licensing and site maintenance, and rotating who receives open queries where no specific agent is mentioned). No matter how you choose to do it, you need to have a licensing number (i. e. CLIA or IATA here in the US). So, if you did it on your own, you would have to look into what you need to do to attain that. For me, mine was attained through the agency. Your idea is great and is a wonderful opportunity to tap into a nitch market which may be quite large! Good luck!

[Marculi]

Thanks Jodi and Sandy -- I am in that early stage of brainstorming and researching this whole thing. A benefit of this phase is it tends to be a good self-test to see if my enthusiasm is still there once I get a more complete, honest picture of what all is truly involved to be successful. As you know, there is a lot of information out there, albeit conflicting at times, so your input/advice/encouragement is always welcomed!

I have been doing a lot of reading about host agencies lately. Based on your responses should I assume that I don’t necessarily have to align myself with a ‘host agency’ per se, but any reputable agency where we have a clear and formal agreement of our relationship and responsibilities?

At the moment I’m thinking I am going to put together a brief proposal of my idea. This would include summaries of the three niche vacation packages I am interested in, my online and offline marketing/action plan of the different ways I will be acquiring European travelers, possibly a preview of my website, videos, and other self-generated marketing tools, as well as why I would likely be successful as a partner to their agency.

So, we’ll see what happens. Again, I’m interested in any feedback from others who have similar arrangements or general advice.

Thanks again!

Mark