Business At A Glance
Startup Costs: $2,000 – $10,000
Home Based: Can be operated from home.
Part Time: Can be operated part-time.
Online Operation? Yes
Business Overview
Working from the comforts of a homebasedoffice, you can plan and book cruise vacations-of-a-lifetime for yourclients. Travel consulting experience is recommended for thisopportunity; if you do not have experience, I would advise you tocontact the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents toinquire about training courses in your area.
You could also choose afranchise cruise agent business, which provides all franchisees withintensive training in the areas of marketing, administration andreservation booking. The cruise travel agent industry is competitive,but at the same time it is also the fastest-growing segment of thetravel industry.
Key to success in this business is marketing. You haveto tap in to the demographic groups that are most likely to take acruise’-which include the 50-plus crowd and newlyweds’-and target yourmarketing efforts to these groups. You might also want to considerspecializing in a niche area of the cruise holiday industry, such assingles-only and alternative lifestyle cruises.