Express Travel

by [luis]

Opportunities for Gay Retail Travel Agencies

YTB Travelmore an affiliate marketer for YTB (Your Travel Biz) is currently seeking travel agents through its travel agent marketing website Your Ticket to Paradise

YTB Travel Biz (YTB) brings you the perfect opportunity to transform your life through combining the fun of travel with the speed of the Internet, multiplied by the power of referral marketing to provide YOU with the ultimate home-based business solution.

YTB Your Travel Business – An online travel agency offering home business opportunities to get you fully licensed as an agent allowing you to build your very own professional online travel agency as well as receive all the travel perks that travel agents enjoy. We have a solid team and systems in place.

YTB brings you the perfect opportunity to transform your life through combining the fun of travel with the speed of the Internet, multiplied by the power of referral marketing to provide YOU with the ultimate home-based business solution. YTB is taking the industry by storm!!

The YTB companies offer two unique and powerful business opportunities, that of referring travel agent or “RTA” and that of independent marketing representative or “REP”. The travel agent opportunity has an initial fee under 0 and a monthly license fee of .95. There is no fee or travel agency purchase required to be a REP. You may choose to participate in one or both opportunities.

Gay Travel Demographics:

The gay and lesbian community are self-identified travelers have a median age of 47, mostly coupled, median income of ,000 and a history of taking three or more leisure trips per year.

“Do you have to be gay to sell gay travel?”

This is the most often-asked question among travel agents attending TAG marketing seminars. The answer is always posed as another question: “Do you have to be Jewish to sell a synagogue tour of Jerusalem? Or sight-impaired to serve a client with a vision disability?” Based on their own, experience, the answer is an obvious “no.” By becoming sensitive to a gay client’s needs and preferences, by maintaining a resource library of gay travel guidebooks and maps, and by developing relationships with dependable gay travel suppliers, a retail travel agent can successfully build a loyal gay and lesbian following. But again we advise: Be realistic. The gay market cannot be won overnight. It takes a steady approach.

Your Own Specialty:

You can’t pick up a travel trade publication these days without reading the words: Specialize to survive. Identifying the gay market is already specializing, but now, savvy gay travelers are looking for further specialization within the gay market: Gay scuba trips, lesbian rafting adventures, gay Australia, etc. The possibilities are endless. With the advent of toll-free numbers, the proliferation of newsletters for gay clubs and organizations, and the increasing popularity of internet, you can identify and serve a specialized gay following from around the country or even the world. Don’t just pick a specialty because you think it might be “lucrative.” Pick something you love. If you love sailing, and that’s what you do with your own weekends and vacations, you can flourish by developing this specialty for the gay market as well. Then you have the best of both worlds: Doing what you love, and earning your living in the process.

Be a Joiner:

“It’s all about who you know”. This is an advantage for travel agents developing the gay market. Participating in gay travel industry organizations such as the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) and the Travel Alternatives Group (TAG) as well as gay community organizations in your own area will allow you to network with key players. Through these organizations, you will have the contacts to identify powerful alliances with suppliers, participate in co-op advertising and marketing programs, develop group, association and corporate sales, and become known as a specialist in your own “niche within the niche.”

The Key to Your Success:

Community Involvement Programs Gays and lesbians depend on non-profit organizations for almost all aspects of our daily lives. From health concerns such as HIV and breast cancer, to social and recreational organizations like “Frontrunners,” “Different Spokes,” and city gay community centers, to business organizations such as the IGLTA and local gay chambers of commerce, to political organizations which are protecting our basic human rights from attacks by the religious right these non-profits play a pivotal role in the day-to-day lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Most gays and lesbians belong and actively participate in some sort of organization, supporting them with both time and money.

Often mainstream agents and suppliers ask if they can be effective entering the gay and lesbian market. The answer is “of course!” but only if you work within the community; and are not seen as targeting the “gay buck.”

There are two very important reasons for any travel agent or travel supplier to have a Community Involvement Program. First, and foremost, it’s the right thing to do. Our network of non-profit community agencies needs every individual and every business to contribute in order to thrive.

Secondly, community involvement is a cost-effective marketing tool which can bring substantial results, increasing your business far beyond your charitable investment.

Many businesses serving the gay and lesbian market have ongoing community involvement programs. These businesses almost universally report that “being involved” leads to bigger profits and better morale among employees. Ultimately, profit comes from increased business. But business grows through increased customer loyalty and new clients, both of which result from an effective Community Involvement Program.

If you are interested in becoming a Referring Travel Agent (RTA) contact Brent Vanderstelt at 231-206-5333 or visit YTB Travelmore, Book Flights, Hotels, Car Rentals, Vacations and Cruises

Related Travel Articles