Agents — Part I

By Mary Brutscher

It seems as of late that in every direction you look in the travel industry — whether it is to pick up a trade magazine to read, attend a convention, or receive travel news by E-mail — you are going to hear or read something relating to the home based travel industry. Why all of the hype all of a sudden? Haven’t there always been home based agents?
While there may have been a home based agent here or there for the last decade or so, being home based used to be something of a novelty. In fact, it was actually frowned upon (and still is by a few) as little as three or four years ago by some brick-and-mortar agents. You had to work twice as hard to prove yourself a legitimate agent. Today, however, not only are some of those brick-and-mortar folks host agencies for home based independents, they are moving home themselves and are doing so at such a rapid pace, the suppliers are now ready to sit up and take notice.
Who are these people who are helping reshape the travel industry and why are they moving home? They are you and me! They are people who are adapting to the ever-changing travel industry and doing what they feel is the wave of the future. They are coping with lower commissions, more shoppers and so on. They are cutting their operating expenses to increase their profit margins.
They are parents wanting more time with their children. Baby boomer husband and wife teams taking their businesses into retirement. They are professionals who are tired of the commuting rat race and are looking for more control over their lives. Some are industry veterans while others are just getting their feet wet. Some have always been home based while others are making the move to becoming home based. Of course, being home based is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all situation, Some were brick-and-mortar, became home based and have now made the move back to brick-and-mortar.
I took a small survey of agents across the country asking them to tell me a little bit about themselves and what they considered the pros and cons of being home based and why they became home based. While I cannot list every person who responded to this survey or every response, I am going to share a few of them.
Alice DeLonge of Summerville, SC, is a good example of being pro-active about the rising costs of doing business. Alice, owner of ABC’s of Travel, is a veteran full service travel agency owner who has been in travel for 12 years. She has owned her own business for over 10 of those years and recently made the decision to become home based. After moving from a retail location this March, Alice noted that, while some changes have not been easy, she is coping and adjusting to a new way of doing business — and is optimistic about what the future holds for home based agents.
Johanna Zamora, MCC, Classic Tour and Cruise Shoppe, Hacienda Heights, CA, is another good example of a pro-active agency who adapts to the changes in travel. When Johanna first purchased her agency in 1985, it was a brick-and-mortar agency that was selling more airline tickets than anything else. She successfully changed her way of doing business to leisure travel and three years ago moved home. She noted that one of the biggest obstacles she faces is the office space issue.
Donna Dykstra of Sol Provider Travel Co.,Coopersville, MI, has “looked at life from both sides now,” having made the transition from brick-and-mortar to home based and back again to brick-and-mortar. “Going BACK to storefront after being home was one of the best business moves I’ve made,” said Donna. “ I LOVE what I do and my enthusiasm in person is what sells. It’s hard to do that over the phone.” She goes on to state that one of the biggest obstacles she had to overcome when home based was proving herself as a serious business and not just a hobbyist.
Many of the agents answering my survey were agency owners and/or host agencies. However, I did receive a response from several independent contractors, some who are brand new to travel and bubbling over with excitement. Others are veterans and quite possibly some of the home based travel industry ground breakers. One such agent has been an IC for 13 years and said that she became home based in order to be with her children and earn money while engaging her love of travel. Being a home based agent for a “mom and pop” agency seemed to fit the bill.
I heard from Vicki, another agent who has been home based for 12 years. She started as an inside agent, but later moved to the home front where she remained as an independent agent for some years until the agency she was affiliated with was purchased by new owners. Vicki said that one of the things she considers very important is the ability to spend as much time as needed with her clients and not just be another “order taker.”
Husband and wife teams are also a growing force in the home based travel industry. In these instances, very often it is the wife who is working the travel business full time from home while the husband works another job and works travel part time. Other husband and wife teams, however, both work full time at other jobs and work their travel business part time.
Many of these teams are baby boomers who are working toward growing their businesses so that they can both work in the industry full time and take it into retirement while at the same time avoiding the burden of obtaining financing for their business. As a host agency, I currently have several husband and wife teams who sell through our agency as independents and they work very well together. In fact, one such team, who have completely opposite personalities, do sales presentations together. When one cannot close the sale, the other takes over. The result most of the time is that they succeed in getting the sale. An added plus is time being spent together both while working their business and attending fun events, such as conventions and seminars at sea.
Husband and wife teams are not the only family members who are working together from home in the travel industry. Parents and children often work the parents’ agency together whether the agency is home based or brick and mortar. One family associated with our agency is a mother, married daughter and grown son. Each has very distinctive niche. They also work together on projects, such as niche group travel.

Mary Brutscher and her husband Franz are owners of The Travel Stop, Charleston, SC, which is a host agency. They are planning the launch of their “virtual classroom” travel classes in the near future.