Home Business Connection February 2001
HOME-BASED
TRAVEL BUSINESS
That’s
the Ticket!
by
Bridey M. Orth
Tami
Pruitt never intended to become a travel expert, but she found her way to this
lucrative industry and for four years has been seeing big success.
For
years Tami worked in retail and sales with a Family business.
While it felt good to be part of a family business, working retail meant
being tied down to the hours dictated by the shopping center where their
storefront was located. So when the time came for Tami’s mom to retire from the
business, Tami decided against keeping it and instead tried something new.
She
enrolled in a travel school and for six months got a basic education on the
travel industry and its many nuances. She
also took a refresher course in geography, something critical for travel agents.
But
because Tami had spent so many years in the family business, she couldn’t see
herself finding a job in an agency working for someone else. “I think once you’ve had a taste of your own business,
it’s hard to work for someone else. I
wanted to make all the decisions,” reveals Tami.
When
she saw an ad in a travel magazine for TIX Travel, Tami knew she was
getting close to her new dream of having her own travel business. TIX Travel,
based in Nyack-On-Hudson. NY, offers a business opportunity to anyone interested
in the travel industry. There’s a
flat fee and a minor annual fee for someone to obtain a TIX dealership
and run their own travel and
ticket business.
And
just recently TIX Travel launched their Internet web site, www.tixtravel.com.
The site integrates travel, entertainment tickets and their unique
business opportunity.
This
online opportunity wasn’t available when Tami was checking into TIX Travel
because there wasn’t a lot of online travel business at that point.
However, today the dealership can be established on the Internet as well as
in
a home, office, and storefront or integrated into an existing business.
Tami’s
business, Spirit of the West Travel, has an Internet presence (www.bcity.com/spirit-travel) that she developed before it was available through
TIX Travel. She says she gets a lot of business from the Internet. But
because she specializes in honeymoons, she attends two to three bridal shows
each year. “Seventy to 80 percent of my business is in honeymoons. I pick up a
lot of business from the bridal shows here in Austin, TX.
In fact, I was the only travel agent at the last show I attended; my
booth was pretty busy that day,” Tami shares.
When
Tami was getting Spirit of the West Travel off the ground, she found TIX
Travel to be an invaluable resource. “They were informative and have
answered every question I’ve ever had. They’re helpful and encouraging and
have been very patient,” she says.
Tixtravel.com
provides complete training and technology solutions for all levels of
experienced entrepreneurs, so experience in the travel industry isn’t a
pre-requisite for this opportunity. Richard Klein, president and
founder, says, “tixtravel.com has successfully
helped over 350 people launch their own travel and ticket businesses. We train
agents on how to get and keep clients, use the reservation systems and how to
consistently get great deals on travel arrangements.
Our
services are sold through our network
of
agents.
Web
visitors who do not have an agent
are
referred to one of our agent specialists for personal assistance.”
The
travel section at Tixtravel.com features
live reservations for airline tickets, hotel accommodations and car rentals. In
addition, there is a real time low fare search, CHEAPTIX discount tickets,
cruise and tour planning. A complete suite of travel tools is also available,
including weather, maps, flight tracker, currency converter and headline news.
The
ticket section features special access to sold-out tickets to concerts, theater
and sporting events. Tixtravel.com also
offers complete packages including event tickets, accommodations and
transportation. In addition, there are concert and sports team schedules,
seating plans, news and shopping.
For
Tami, having her own travel business has been fun and exciting. One of the
biggest perks she sees in her travel career
is being able to learn all about the world and then going to see it.
“There’s a lot of research and leg work involved, but it’s
wonderful when you get to go see places in person after spending so much time
studying them,” says Tami. revealing that one of her favorite spots is just
south of Cancun. “Playa Del Carmen is just now being developed, but they’ve
got zoning restrictions that will keep the big high rises out of the city.
They’ve kept the jungle intact,
the beaches are beautiful and it’s relatively inexpensive.”
Tami
admits that it was scary to jump into something new like a travel business, but
she had a lot of help along the way from TIX Travel. Each year her sales
double the previous year’s, which is better than she’d ever dreamed. Tami
also has the flexibility of a home-based business, which means she has more time
for herself and her family.
“We’ve
got two kids so whenever they’ve got something going on at school, all I have
to do is put the answering machine on and go see them. It’s wonderful that I
can do that,” she shares.
Richard
Klein deals with people on a daily basis who are looking for the chance to leave
their current jobs and start their own home-based business. Tami was one of
those people and because she had an interest in travel and wanted to be the one
calling the shots in her business, this was the right opportunity for her.
Richard
says, “Starting your own business represents an enormous milestone in your
professional life... Independence means more control over your business; the
freedom to run it the way you feel it should be run, with no one making your
decisions, telling you to sell products you don’t believe in, or standing over
your shoulder.”
To get a complete information kit about getting a TIX Travel dealership, visit them online at www.tixtravel.com or call toll-free l-800-2-OWN-TIX (800-269-6849) ext. 3.
Click
here to see the information kit online right now
Page
22 Home Business Connection February 2001 www.cuttingedgemedia.com