All-Cruise Travel Club

Minimum Start-Up: $500
Average Start-UP: 10,000
Revenue: $25,000 - $250K
Profits: $10,000/Month
One Person Business: Yes

Most Travel Clubs are organized on the premise of building a sizable membership capable of negotiating discounts with various travel providers.

The Travel Club makes money earning a commission every time a member purchases airline tickets, books a hotel room, or goes on a cruise. Today, things have changed quite a bit.

SELLING MEMBERSHIPS

With a swelling membership basis it is difficult for travel clubs to ignore the profits of charging for membership, no matter how insignificant the amount. With 10,000 members, a travel club charging only $20 a year will earn $200,000 in membership dues. This revenue is over any commission the Club earns when a member travels.

SPLIT DISCOUNTS

A Travel Club normally acts as a travel agent for the exclusive use of its members. As an "agency", it gets standard agent commissions from airlines, hotels and cruise lines. This can range anywhere between 10% and 18% of the purchase price. What travel clubs usually do is offer its members a rebate equivalent to 50% of its commission (meaning 5% to 9% of their purchase price). If the member spends $1,000, he/she gets back anywhere between $50 and $90. This is enough reason for people to join a travel club, especially if the membership dues are just $20 a year.

ALL-CRUISE

As today's market shifts from the "all-in-one" and "do-it-all" service companies to that of "specialized" services, so do travel clubs. Based on industry statistics, the best area to specialize in is the Cruise business, the fastest-growing segment in Travel.

YOUR BUSINESS

Sell memberships to your All-Cruise Travel Club and offer rebates on all cruises and peripheral services the member books through the club. Find products or services that you can give as bonus for signing up for a year's membership.

You may even want to seek distributors who will purchase membership cards in advance, at 15% of the retail price. This means that if the membership retails for $20, a distributor buys it from you for $3. If you sell 10,000 memberships this way, you've just earned $30,000. Then, add to this revenue from commissions when members take a cruise.

C.L.I.A.

The Cruise Lines International Association is a trade body representing the interests of the Cruise Lines segment of the travel industry. Membership to the Association is only $245 per year. The Association also has a certification program that can bring your business immediate credibility by being able to sell direct all-cruise packages.

To contact CLIA, call 1-800-372-CLIA.