When launching a travel agency, a background in hospitality and tourism careers can be incredibly valuable. Having in-depth knowledge of the industry, as well as effective customer service skills and a network of travel-related connections, sets you up for success from the very beginning.
Amy and Michael Madson started their Dream Vacations franchise in 2018, with Amy running the business full-time until Michael was able to fully dedicate his time in 2020. Based in Orlando, Florida, just a hop, skip and a jump away from major attractions, the couple has carried over connections from their time spent working in hospitality in Orlando, Las Vegas and Illinois for the last 20 years.
“We enjoy helping our clients experience the vacations of their dreams,” says Amy and Michael. “It’s not always easy, but it’s worth the extra hours, emails on the road/ship/plane, [and] late night texts—and we can work from anywhere.”
Read on to discover how to become a travel agent with a background in hospitality and tourism.
Learning From the Past
The Madsons have been Dream Vacations Franchise Owners for several years, helping their clients create the trips of their dreams. Dream Vacations provides them with a platform they can build off, helping to get you started with crucial tools.
“Dream Vacations offers user-friendly and efficient technology systems to make booking and reporting easy,” according to Amy and Michael. “We can quote cruises on several cruise lines with different dates and itineraries in a matter of minutes using MyCruiseControl. Once we have bookings, we use Travefy travel planner to create beautiful professional itineraries for our clients. Our marketing team provides several ‘set it and forget it’ options with Rallio social media posts and a variety of emails.”
While a day in the life of a franchise owner is always different, with travel experiences and conferences on the calendar in addition to regular work, Amy and Michael believe that, with Dream Vacations, meaningful connections can be built no matter what the journey looks like. During their time as travelpreneurs, they have had a number of partners turn into close friends.
“We love helping them achieve goals and earning promotions over the years,” the couple says. “… Let’s not forget about the relationships and partnerships we’ve created with our fellow franchise owners. It’s truly a family at Dream Vacations.”
For those looking to transition from hospitality and tourism careers to travel agency owner, Amy and Michael offer this advice: Be prepared to work hard at learning. Attend any in-person training events you can—conferences, regional trainings and supplier luncheons—as these are the best way to form relationships that will help you in the long run. If you can’t attend in person, be sure to attend webinar trainings from HQ and suppliers, and complete online training programs. All this training effort will pay off when you get that email or phone call from a potential client, and you can speak confidentially on the products.
Turning Your Skills Into a New Career
Whether you have a degree in business hospitality and tourism management or entered this field through a different pathway, it’s not hard to see that there are a number of skills that translate to the travel agency realm.
Understanding the world of travel—from air travel and cruises to hotels and destinations—is important for any travel agent, but additional skills, like networking, customer service, experience with upselling, crisis management, operational awareness and cultural sensitivity, can all translate excellently to a travel agent business as well.
There are many different benefits to launching a travel agency with Dream Vacations. Because this is an established, trusted organization, franchise training and support are built-in and become irreplaceable to new business owners. In addition, you can create your own schedule, work from anywhere and enjoy some much-needed flexibility in your life.
“Owning our Dream Vacations Franchise has given us the opportunity to work from home or anywhere we travel as long as there is decent internet,” Amy and Michael explain. “We work long, but flexible, hours and it’s not bad when your office is on a river cruise or luxury ship sailing in beautiful destinations.”
Embrace Your Career in Travel—Right Now
Starting a new journey is thrilling, and Dream Vacations offers all the resources and support necessary to get you going. Take what you’ve learned in hospitality and tourism careers and transfer it to a job with a flexible schedule and opportunities that offer you the chance to travel around the world.
You’re not just launching a travel agency—you’re creating a new career opportunity for yourself and turning your passion for travel into a thriving business. Take the next steps to begin your journey with Dream Vacations today.
