If you live in Missouri and want to become a travel agent, there might be several questions that come to mind. Questions about how to become a travel agent in Missouri might arise. What is the salary for a travel agent in Missouri? What are the duties and educational requirements? Do I need a license to sell travel? There are numerous questions. Hopefully the information on this page will help answer some of them.

Just how you are able to tell people about Silver Dollar City, Ripley's Believe it or not, Fantastic Caverns and Dickerson Park Zoo in Missouri, you should be able to tell them about tourist attractions in the destination of their choice. With the rise of the Internet and travel websites like Travelocity.com, Kayak.com and Priceline.com it is important that travel agents become experts on travel. They have to be able to provide information that their clients cannot find themselves. Travel websites enable people to become their own travel agents. They can book a flight, hotel and a rental car, with the click of a button. http://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/branson-us-mo-br.htm

As a travel agent you have to be professional, accurate, organized, detail oriented and courteous. You assist the client with their travel arrangements before and during their trip. If anything goes wrong during their trip and flights need to be rescheduled, the travel agent is the person that will be contacted. Keep in mind, you are not just a travel agent, you are also a sales representative selling travel. http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/travel_agent.htm

REQUIREMENTS: If you want to become a travel agent in Missouri, the first thing you have to do is finish high school. You need a high school diploma or the equivalent. A travel agent also needs to know how to work on computers since most of your time is spend researching rates, destinations and promotions online. This is where vocational school might come in handy. Additional classes you can look into taking include world history, foreign languages, and geography. Employers might hire you right out of high school if you have traveled extensively. However, if this is not the case, most employers prefer to hire people who have enjoyed some form of travel agent training. Look for classes and courses online, at community colleges and in public adult education programs. In Missouri you can go to the following schools for travel agent training: Patricia Stevens College, Saint Louis Community College-Forest Park, and University of Central Missouri. Some online schools you can look into include Penn Foster Career School, Strayer University Online, Stratford Career Institute, and Central Pennsylvania College.http://www.citytowninfo.com/employment/travel-agents/missouri http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos124.htm

EMPLOYMENT: When looking for a job as a travel agent, don't expect to find it right away. You might have to get your foot in the door by starting out as a receptionist or reservations clerk at a local travel agency. The benefit of this is that you will be able to learn from the day to day activities of the other travel agents. You can request more responsibilities and duties as time goes on and you might end up as a travel agent. If you cannot find a job at a travel agency, you can always offer to work for free as an intern. The benefit here is that you'll get the experience you need and it will look good on your resume. It will help when applying for future jobs. http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos124.htm

SALARY: When deciding on a career, it's important to know what you will be making and what is expected of you. This way you can see if the compensation is satisfactory and if you will be able to do the required tasks. A Missouri travel agent needs to build a client base before anything. After this they can start selling travel and making commission. The base annual salary of a Missouri travel agent is estimated at $29,499.00. Travel agents usually get paid a salary and a commission. If you start your own business selling travel from home you make a commission and fees. Your income can be over 100K annually if you are an independent travel agent. It all depends on what you put into it http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layoutscripts/swzl_salaryresults.asp?op=salswz_psr&jobfamilycode=23&txtKeyword=travel+agent&hdOmniNarrowDesc=Materials+Management&hdZipCode=64105&hdOmniTotalJobsFound=20&pagefrom=selectjob&hdJobCategory=AR02&hdGeoLocation=Kansas+City%2C+MO+64105&countertype=1&totaljoblistnum=2&joblevelcode=&hdCurrentPage=1&hdNarrowDesc=Hotel%2C+Gaming%2C+Leisure%2C+and+Travel&hdLocationOption=1&hdViewAllRecords=0&hdJobTitle=Travel+Clerk&hdSearchByOption=0&hdKeyword=travel+agent&rdbSearchByOption=0&hdStateMetro=80&jobcounter=8&hdSortBy=0&hdJobCode=OF13000058&hdJSBoolDisplayAdvertisement=&hdAjaxKeyword=travel+agent&hdAjaxKeywordWithOR=%23travel%23+OR+%23agent%23&hdAjaxDisplaySection1=0&hdAjaxDisplaySection2=1 http://www.homebasedtravelagent.com/FAQ.htm

DUTIES: One of the deciding factors of becoming a Missouri travel agent are the duties. Following is a list of duties and tasks that are expected of you:

• ■ As a travel agent you have to advice and inform travelers about their chosen destinations: Be knowledgeable when informing them about the climate/weather, attractions, currency, required travel documents, necessary vaccinations, customs and accommodations. Clients expect you to answer their questions, they want information they can't find anywhere else.
• ■ You will have to research publications and online sources and look for information on flights, group discounts, fares, and quality of hotel accommodations.
• ■ Calculating the prices of air fare, accommodation and rental cars is another task. You also have to make sure they are compatible with your client's budget. Be able to quote various prices for package deals.
• ■ If you work for a tour operator you might also have to develop, promote and sell the company's own travel services and package tour. This is usually done through direct mail, presentations and the Internet.
• ■ Travel agents also have to collect payment for the travel arrangements and print out tickets for their customers. http://www.careerplanner.com/Job-Descriptions/Travel-Agents.cfm

LICENSING: In order to sell travel in Missouri, you do not need a special license or permit. Anyone can basically print out business cards saying they are a travel agent. There is no state administered test that you have to pass as you would when becoming a real estate agent. If you want to sell travel from home and start your own home based business, some states do have a travel seller's registration program that you can become a member of. You just have to pay a financial contribution. The benefit of becoming a member is that your company will be recognized by suppliers as a legitimate entity. http://www.homebasedtravelagent.com/FAQ.htm

TRAVEL AGENCY SCAMS: When looking for a job as a travel agent, you might come across companies willing to serve as a host company. This means you can use their web portal and name to sell travel. They just require that you pay them part of all commission you make. Some of these companies are scams and can often be found advertising online. They recruit affiliates giving them the idea that they will be able to travel at discounts and make lots of money. To join, they require an amount up front and after that there are monthly fees. They might ask you to recruit new affiliates for a commission. These companies are nothing more than multi level marketing businesses and have nothing to do with becoming a travel agency. Whichever company you decide to work for, make sure your do your research and confirm that they are reputable. http://www.homebasedtravelagent.com/scams.htm