4,622 Passengers, One Spectacular Coastline, and a Few Honest Truths About Sailing Alaska on NCL Written By: Tom Ogg, Co-Founder and Co-Owner – Travel Professional NEWS Part 1 of 3 Alaska cruises are a favorite among travelers for all kinds of reasons, the wildlife, the jaw-dropping scenery, the shopping, the dining, and the chance to … Continue reading “Alaska Aboard the Norwegian Joy: A In-Depth Review – Part 1 of 3”
The Commission Split Gets the Attention — The Back-End Support Gets the Business Built Travel is an appealing business for obvious reasons: the destinations, the relationships, and the satisfaction of helping someone take a long-awaited trip. Yet much of what determines whether a travel business can grow happens after the exciting part. Commission tracking, … Continue reading “Beyond the Commission Split: What Strong Support Looks Like”
Written by HBTA Team
How to Apply for CruiseWorld’s 2026 STAR Program Before the Window Closes Written By: Northstar Travel Group CruiseWorld by Northstar is once again investing in the future of the travel advisor community through its STAR (Select Travel Advisor Recognition) Program. The application window for the 2026 program is closing shortly, and remaining space is … Continue reading “CruiseWorld’s STAR Program Recognizes the Industry’s Rising Stars and Established Leaders”
Written by HBTA Team
Seven Logins, Seven Problems — Why Fragmented Tech Is Quietly Costing You More Than You Think Written By: Cruise Planners Most home-based travel advisors are running their businesses across seven or more disconnected systems. That number comes from a 2025 Sabre global survey of 499 agencies, which found that 91% operate on four … Continue reading “What Modern Travel Agency Software Should Fix”
Written by HBTA Team
“Dear Valued Customer” Is Not a Strategy — Here’s What Actually Gets Travel Emails Opened Written By: Tom Ogg, Co-Founder and Co-Owner – HomeBasedTravelAgent.com Part One Let’s be brutally honest with each other for a moment. If your current email marketing strategy consists of blasting “Check Out These AMAZING Cruise Deals!!!” to your entire contact … Continue reading “Creating an Email Campaign Strategy That Doesn’t Put Your Clients to Sleep”
Written by Tom Ogg
A Practical Guide to the Best Dedicated AI Travel Planning Apps for Home-Based Advisors Written By: Joanie Ogg, CTC, MCC – HomeBasedTravelAgent.com The Purpose-Built App All-Stars Beyond the general-purpose LLMs that we discussed in the last article, there is a wave of dedicated AI travel planning apps that have emerged, each with a specialty. Consider … Continue reading “Your New Best Employee Never Takes a Lunch Break (Or a Vacation) – Part 2”
Written by Tom Ogg
The Best Host Agencies for New Travel Agents With No Experience in 2026 Written By: Tom Ogg, Co-Founder and Co-Owner – Travel Professional NEWS I hear this question all the time and the answer to it is a resounding YES! Many host agencies have formidable opportunities for brand new travel agents with absolutely no experience … Continue reading “How to Become a Travel Agent Without Experience in 2026”
Written by Tom Ogg
Contributed By: Nexion Travel Group There’s a persistent myth that host agencies just process bookings, but that framing misses what’s actually happening for advisors who partner with a host like Nexion: access to an entire business infrastructure they’d otherwise have to build alone. Think about what running an independent agency actually requires — … Continue reading “Beyond Booking: How Host Agencies Like Nexion Empower Travel Advisors to Build a Full-Service Business”
Written by HBTA Team
What New Travel Advisors Should Do in Their First 90 Days With a Host Agency Written By: Tom Ogg, Co-Founder and Co-Owner – HomeBasedTravelAgent.com Congratulations. You’ve survived the gauntlet: the business plan drafts, the late-night research rabbit holes, and the very important question of whether to use “travel advisor” or “travel agent” in your email … Continue reading “So You Signed With a Host Agency – Now What? A 2026 Guide for the Modern Travel Advisor in an AI-Driven World”
Written by Tom Ogg
A Practical Guide to Travel Advisor Service Fees — What to Charge and How to Say It With Confidence Written By: Tom Ogg, Co-Founder and Co-Owner – FindaHostTravelAgency.com Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, or more accurately, the robot behind the chatbot. Service fees have been a hot-button issue in the travel industry … Continue reading “Travel Advisor Service Fees in the Age of AI – Why You’re Worth Every Penny (and Then Some)”
Written by Tom Ogg