How to Travel for Free by Leading or Promoting Tours
Whether you’re 16 or 60, you CAN travel just about anywhere in
the world for free — and even with a nice stash of cash in your
pocket — by telling like-minded people about a trip and
convincing them to go with you. Get 5 to 20 to book the same
trip, and your trip is free.
© 2004 by Jacqueline Corbett TheLivingWeb.net
If you have a burning desire to see the Pyramids… or go on an
African Safari… or snorkel the Great Barrier Reef of the South
Pacific… and don’t have the cash, don’t worry.
There’s a good chance that you can travel for free to just about
anywhere in the world your heart desires just by locating a
group of like-minded folks and convincing them to go with you.
And if you are really good at convincing a lot of fellow
travelers to join you — and have chosen the right travel
company — you could also earn up to $10,000 a trip for your
efforts.
Not bad for doing something you passionately enjoy doing, and
meeting a whole bunch of people who enjoy the same kind of
traveling you do.
There are dozens upon dozens of travel companies who are
actively seeking individuals to help them organize tours — or
promote existing ones.
Age is no consideration. Whether you are 16 or 70, there is a
tour or tour group that is bound to suit your travel interests.
Teachers are actively courted to promote tours to their
students… and even given handsome cash stipends to boot.
High school and college students are sought to promote grad
trips and spring break trips to their friends and classmates.
Besides free trips and “rock star” treatment, successful
promoters can often earn as much as $10,000 per spring break.
Ministers and church members are rewarded for telling church
members about pilgrimages and trips to the holy land. With as
much as $10,000 to be made per trip, booking and leading tours
is a wonderful way to raise cash for a church building fund…
or augmenting a minister’s meager salary.
Scuba divers can get a free trip by organizing a scuba dive trip
and promoting it to their fellow divers.
Lovers of the oriental culture can get free trips to Japan or
China, while connecting with a whole new group of friends and
earning enough cash to dine well and bring back lovely souvenirs.
Travel companies will often pay cash when you produce more
reservations than the minimum required to earn a free trip.
The number of paid trips it takes to get a free one varies from
travel company to travel company.
Some require as few as 5. Others as many as 15 or 20.
Many companies will reward you with multiple trips.
Most will also offer a commission which gets bigger the more
trips you sell.
It doesn’t take any experience to get started — and most
travel companies supply you with lots of marketing materials and
support.
The degree of involvement in planning and promoting a trip
varies considerably.
For example, promoting a trip for a spring break can often be
done quite casually. Some spring break travel companies will
even send a representative to your campus to put on a meeting. A
few phone calls to friends. Some posters placed around the
campus. An ad in the school newspaper. And voila, you could
easily have 15 or 20 people signed in no time. Some companies
don’t even require that you collect the deposits. And most will
do the follow through in collecting the balance of the trip fee.
The more aggressively you promote, the more trips and money
you’ll earn.
According to some travel companies, it is not uncommon for a
very aggressive promoter to walk away with a free trip AND a
very sizeable amount of cash.
Some travel firms say their top producers earn as much as
$10,000 a trip.
There is no limit to where or how you can advertise a trip to
the general public. The more widely you advertise your tour or
pilgrimage, the more trips you’ll book and the more cash you’ll
make.
To maximize your chances for success, it is advisable to
announce and begin promoting your trip at least a year in
advance of your departure date, so that you have plenty of time
to reach enough people — and to enable your prospects
sufficient time to raise fund and schedule the trip.
If you are already affiliated with a particular group such as a
school, a church, or a club, it makes promoting a trip all the
easier as you already have easy channels of communication in
place. Writing letters or emails, making phone calls,
announcements at meetings or services, announcements in
bulletins, etc.
If you are interested in making as much money as possible in
addition to a free trip — either for yourself or as a
fundraiser, you might want to look at other ways of reaching a
wider audience.
* Press releases to newspapers and other media. * Posters and
flyers posted on community and church bulletin boards. * Small
ads taken out in newspapers and appropriate magazines. * Posting
in special interest forums on the Internet * Holding public
meetings and seminars.
Organizing a trip gives you rewards way beyond the trip and the
money. In the process of organizing a trip, you will also come
into contact with many like-minded people you might never meet
otherwise … resulting in friendships that last a lifetime.
For many, the best part of actively organizing and promoting a
trip is meeting new people who have at least some common
interests.
Because you are the group leader, you are in a unique position
to have already “broken the ice”… so that when it comes time
to embark on your cruise or tour, you will often be on a first
name basis with everyone. This feeling of camaraderie with a
large number of fellow tourists can contribute immeasurably to
the success of the trip — and can often lead to lifelong
friendships.
So don’t put off traveling just because you don’t have the cash.
Look through the resources below for a travel company that suits
you. Then get in touch with them, set a date and a destination.
And start making plans to take the trip of your lifetime… by
helping others do the same.
Bon voyage!
The above article can be freely published in a newsletter or on
your website provided that this entire resource box remains
intact and is included.
The above article can be freely published in a newsletter or on
your website provided that this entire resource box remains
intact and is included.
Jacqueline Corbett is the editor of www.thelivingweb.net . She
can be reached at xenith@thelivingweb.net