A recent nationwide survey of home based agents revealed that an astounding 94.5% earn more now than when they worked in an agency.
The survey was funded by The Travel Agent Next Door but conducted by an independent research company. With over 35% of all travel agents in Canada now home based, the increase in earnings is clearly an important factor in choosing to go home based.
A significant 61% of agents reported that they earn between 10% and 30% more than in the past working at a bricks and mortar location and 23.5% said they are earning 30% or more than in the past.
And agents are not just earning more, they are keeping a greater share of their commission, which they split with their host agency. The survey results show that 85% of home based agents have the opportunity to earn 50% or more of the available commission and 47% said they can earn 75% or more of the available commission.
The majority -72.6% -- of home based agents earn a greater share of commission as a home based agent compared to working in a travel agency.
Most are satisfied with their host agency
When asked to rate their current compensation package with their host agency, 73.7% said they were 'mostly to 100% satisfied', and 25.4% said they were 100% satisfied with their compensation.
The survey also dispels some assumptions about the add-on costs to agents from their host agencies for services such as a website and marketing.
The survey asked what is the monthly website fee you pay to your host agency? 79% of agents who responded to this question said they DO NOT pay a monthly fee for their website.
When asked if they pay a monthly marketing fee to their host agency, 82% of agents who responded to this question do not pay an additional marketing fee to their host agent because it is included in their monthly fee.
The survey also asked the question: What is the invoicing fee you pay to your host agency? Over 85% of the agents who responded to this question DO NOT pay an invoicing fee to their host agency.
The nationwide survey of Canadian hosted travel agents was conducted over the month of January and in its second year, tripled in response size.
******This is part of a series of articles by travel industry veteran Jill Wykes about the home based agent and host agency trend that is changing how travel is sold in Canada. The articles are sponsored by The Travel Agent Next Door.
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