Does travel to places like Fiji, Rome, Italy, Hong Kong, Bora Bora, Paris, London, and Australia sound like something you want to do? Would you like to stroll on secluded beaches, dine in quaint little restaurants, or wander around in ancient castles? If so, becoming a travel agent may be a good choice for you.

But can you really make decent money being a travel agent? Is there a future in it?

According to the United States Department of Labor, "Industry consolidation and increasing use of the Internet to book travel will result in a decline in the employment of travel agents. The Internet increasingly allows people to access travel information from their personal computers, enabling them to research and plan their own trips, make their own reservations and travel arrangements, and purchase their own tickets."

So as the need for travel agents declines, so too will their salaries. And salaries of travel agents are already low. The United States Department of Labor, says that the "Median annual earnings of travel agents were $26,630 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $20,800 and $33,580. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $16,530, while the top 10 percent earned more than $41,660."

So if you had years worth of experience the best you would do is around $40,000 U.S. a year, which is very well likely to decline. And more likely you would only be earning $25K or less as a travel agent. That's not a very attractive salary for most people.

So if you become a travel agent you'll have the benefits of huge discounts on travel, but you won't likely be making money enough to afford to travel. In fact, you'll barely have enough to cover living expenses.

So does that mean you should look for another more profitable occupation?

There is a solution so you can still become a travel agent. The best way is to become a travel agent is with one of the new travel-based network marketing organizations. You become a travel agent of one of these travel companies and you get all the benefits of being a travel agent.

You still make money on travel commissions, but you also make money by helping other people become their own travel agents. This enables you to make way more than you could as an ordinary travel agent. In fact, if you do it right, you can make as much in a month as many travel agents make in a year.

With the trend moving towards people making their own travel plans, you're just helping them do what they are going to do anyway. Everyone wins! And you get to see the world in style!