Merchants of Fun

Whether he is bound for Niagara Falls or the headwaters of the Amazon, the European circuit or the Fiji Islands, the typical U.S. tourist begins his trip seated expectantly by the desk of the man who gives form to his dream: the travel agent. This year's tourist boom is sweeping a record 1,500,000 Americans into far-off lands --and most of them will get there through travel agents. Last week, at the peak of the season, the nation's travel agents were richer--and more numerous--than ever before. Spurred by rising U.S. incomes, fatter retirement checks and the postwar yen to wander, the ranks of U.S. travel agents have doubled to 3,000 in the past decade. This year their billings will top $1 billion.

The kings of the industry are still seasoned old American Express and Thomas Cook & Sons, but the fastest risers are the smaller independents that have sprung up across the U.S. Armed with a busy telephone, a smile and tons of brochures from shiplines, airlines and national tourist offices, the typical agent is a small businessman who sells about $300,000 in transportation, hotel reservations and sightseeing bookings annually, makes $22,000 in commissions (5% for booking domestic transportation, 7% to 10% for international tickets and foreign hotel reservations, 10% to 15% for arranging car rentals and complete tours).

Sampling the Product. Most of the agencies are started by men or women who have worked for established travel agencies, airline or shipping offices, but the rapid growth of the business has attracted others with little experience. Says Vice President Sydney Pritchard of San Francisco's" Albertsen Travel Service: "Anybody who has ever taken a trip by streetcar to any place considers himself a travel expert today." Though no, carrier will qualify an obviously shoddy outfit to collect commissions, all that a newcomer really needs to set up a travel agency is space and a moderate outlay of cash. In June the Civil Aeronautics Board ordered domestic airlines to relax their rules for recognizing agents, pay commissions to almost anyone.

Many newcomers are attracted not only by the hope of profit but by the glamour and fringe benefits of the industry. Each international airline allows an agent two trips a year over its routes at a 75% discount; a fast-packing agent could conceivably make up to 180 hops yearly on the 90 major international airlines. Some agents travel more than 100,000 miles a year, and even the small operators average 5,000 miles. This week Mrs. Honey Hansen, owner of Seattle's Universal Travel Directors, flew off on her 31st trip to Europe. Along the way, tourist-seeking hotels pamper the agent with the best rooms, foods, wines, lift many checks.

The efficient travel agent--and few survive long without efficiency--takes advantage of his happy situation to reconnoiter foreign hotels, bistros and showplaces for his customers. He not only is on the look for new spas and even new nations to tout (one favorite this year: Nepal), but takes care to learn the right replies to the hushed queries that are bound to be put to him by first-time travelers: "Where are there plenty of young men around?" "I have a weak heart; how is the altitude?" "My husband snores; can we get separate rooms?" Finding a Field. Some of the most successful agencies have carved out their own special little piece of the travel market and concentrated on it. Among the fastest growers are the nationality agencies, usually run by first-generation Americans who send aged immigrants back for a last look at the old country. Cleveland's Poznan Travel Agency, opened two years ago by Tax Consultant Joseph Kupniewski, does 90% of its thriving business with aged Polish immigrants who have saved for decades to make the trip.

Other agents have set up "bachelor tours" (which many married couples join), tours that swing through great museums or restaurants, great beaches or battlefronts. Three years ago Camera Bug Eric L. Ergenbright of North Hollywood opened his own agency, this year is running 30 camera tours--in Japan, South America and elsewhere--with live models and expert photographer-guides. One agency set up a religious tour of Israel, complete with kosher food, tossed in a surprising fringe benefit: a special audience with Pope John XXIII on the way back.

Most of the travel agents get as much of a kick out of their work as the tourists do from their travels. Says President J. Stuart Rotchford of Chicago's big Happiness Tours: "With the same effort in another business, I could make twice the money. But I would not have half the fun."

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