Does travel to places like Fiji, Rome, Italy, Hong Kong, Bora Bora, Paris, London, and Australia sound like something you want to do? Would you like to stroll on secluded beaches, dine in quaint little restaurants, or wander around in ancient castles? If so, becoming a travel agent may be a good choice for you.
But can you really make decent money being a travel agent? Is there a future in it?
According to
United States Department of Labor, "Industry consolidation and increasing use of Internet to book travel will result in a decline in employment of travel agents. The Internet increasingly allows people to access travel information from their personal computers, enabling them to research and plan their own trips, make their own reservations and travel arrangements, and purchase their own tickets."
So as need for travel agents declines, so too will their salaries. And salaries of travel agents are already low. The United States Department of Labor, says that "Median annual earnings of travel agents were $26,630 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $20,800 and $33,580. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $16,530, while top 10 percent earned more than $41,660."
So if you had years worth of experience best you would do is around $40,000 U.S. a year, which is very well likely to decline. And more likely you would only be earning $25K or less as a travel agent. That's not a very attractive salary for most people.
