Majority of home based agents earn more than in an agency

News / Others

03-15-2018 10:09 am

Christine Hogg

Christine Hogg

Christine Hogg is the Associate Digital Editor at PAX Global Media. Prior to joining PAX, she obtained her Honours BA in Journalism from the University of Toronto. Upon graduating, she went on to write for several travel publications while travelling the world. Her longest trip was a three-week stint in Europe, and the shortest was a 16-hour adventure in Iceland. Get in touch: christine@paxglobalmedia.com.

Here’s a fact that might explain why more and more agents are becoming independent contractors and working from home.

They not only earn more than when they worked in an agency, but they also keep more of their commissions.

According to a recent nationwide survey funded by The Travel Agent Next Door, a total of 94.5 per cent are earning more- 61 per cent of agents reported that they earn between 10 per cent and 30 per cent more and 23.5 per cent said they are earning 30 per cent or more.

When it comes to commission split, the survey results also show that 85 per cent of home based agents have the opportunity to earn 50 per cent or more of the available commission and 47 per cent said they can earn 75 per cent or more of the available commission.

The majority (72.6 per cent) of home based agents earn a greater share of commission as a home based agent compared to working in a travel agency.

Asked how they felt about their compensation package, 73.7 per cent said they were ‘mostly to 100 per cent satisfied’, and 25.4 per cent said they were 100 per cent satisfied with their compensation.

Yes, but what about fees from host agency?

The survey demonstrates that most home based agents are not charged for most of the services they receive from their host agencies.

When asked “what is the monthly website fee you pay to your host agency?” 79 per cent of agents said they do not pay a monthly fee for their website.

When asked if they pay a monthly marketing fee, 82 per cent of agents do not pay an additional marketing fee to their host agency, it is included in their monthly fee.

The survey also asked: “What is the invoicing fee you pay to your host agency?” Over 85 per cent of the agents who responded to this question do not pay an invoicing fee to their host agency.

About 37% of Canadian agents now home based

This was the 2nd annual independent nationwide survey of Canadian hosted travel agents.

It was available to home based agents during the month of January 2018 and this year, the response size tripled, making the results very reliable.

An estimated 37 per cent of travel agents in Canada are now independent, home based contractors.