New Blood in the Home-Based Sector

While sorting through the many submissions we’ve received at Travel Agent magazine for our annual “30 Under 30” report, I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of home-based agents in the mix. When we launched this feature last year, part of our motivation was to counteract the impression that the “human” travel agent was a vanishing breed, and travel was a field that 20-somethings were not interested in pursuing.

Happily what we discovered—and reinforced this year with a whole new batch of entrants—is that there is not only a growing number of younger people getting into the industry, but they’re doing it enthusiastically and with an entrepreneurial spirit. As one home-based candidate for “30 Under 30” pointed out, these are the agents best suited to sell to their own generation—an age group that is prime for such travel experiences as destination weddings, honeymoons, guy/girlfriend getaways, adventure travel and voluntourism.

Also, this is a generation that has grown up in an era when working from home and being able to connect with anyone anywhere has always been an option. The idea of setting up a home-based agency is probably not nearly as intimidating to them as it is to the many agents who made the same move later in life.

You can find out all about this new wave of travel professionals in the November 23 issue of Travel Agent magazine when we reveal our picks for 2009’s “30 Under 30.”