Host agencies for beginners in Australia (2026): who takes new travel agents

If you’re new to travel and want to work from home, only a handful of Australian host agencies will, and most of those want a Certificate III in Travel first. On their own published terms, they’re Connected Travel (through a paid program), Your Travel Centre (after a Cert III), Travelglobe (with a Cert III that includes GDS training), Go Tours (case by case) and Niftrip, the network I run.

I’ve been in travel since 2004 and have run a host agency since 2013, and I get asked this more than any other question. For how working from home is paid and what you need to start, see work from home travel agent in Australia.

Do Australian host agencies take people with no experience?

A few do. This is how the networks that recruit independent advisors describe their entry rules:

If you’ve been knocked back by a network that asks for experience, you’re in good company. In a Facebook group for Australian travel agents this year, one person studying their Cert III wrote:

almost every agency I’ve approached has said ‘experience required’.

That’s the norm, because new advisors make expensive mistakes and the network carries the risk for them.

Which host agencies take beginners, and what do they charge?

Connected Travel

Connected Travel is an ATIA-accredited agency with a network of independent advisors, founded by Marissa Papas. Its academy sells “Connect to Business”, a three-month program for people who are brand new to travel, for $4,990 + GST. Its 12+ modules run from compliance and GDS airfares through to sales, quotes and itineraries, and graduates then run their own businesses as independent advisors with Connected Travel.

It’s the most complete beginner pathway in Australia. It doesn’t publish the split or fees you pay once you’re trading, so ask for both in writing before you commit.

Your Travel Centre

Your Travel Centre (Your Travel & Cruise Pty Ltd, Brisbane) has the clearest published path for newcomers of any network I’ve seen. You don’t need industry experience, but you must finish a Certificate III in Travel or similar before it will consider you.

A newcomer pays a $1,495 start-up fee, then $100 or $200 a month including GST, and keeps 80% of commission and service fees. Training, professional indemnity insurance and the network’s accreditation are included, and the agreement is month to month.

If you expect to sell a lot quickly, an 80% split costs more than a 90% split or a 1% fee once your sales grow.

Travelglobe

Travelglobe is a Melbourne host agency founded by Irene Jones, who has over 30 years in the industry. You need relevant industry experience or a completed Certificate III in Travel that includes GDS use or training, and it also runs a two-week “Intro to being a Travel Agent” course in Melbourne. Commission structures and fees are given on enquiry.

Go Tours

Go Tours is a family-run Gold Coast agency, a Pacific and Solomon Islands specialist since 1988 and a Helloworld affiliate member. Its home-based program “suits consultants with prior industry experience, or those we believe can make it in the industry”, so it will look at newcomers individually. There are no monthly budget targets, and head office covers your clients when you’re away or sick. Once you’re established, the 72% split means you give away more of each booking than at any other network that publishes its split.

Niftrip

Niftrip is the network I run, so weigh this with that in mind. I built it mainly for experienced, tech-forward consultants, but it’s also for newcomers who are comfortable with technology and want to build their own client base.

The fees are the same for everyone: $99 + GST a month for the platform, your own email address and support, plus 1% + GST of turnover. You keep 100% of your at-source commission, and there’s no joining fee. We run a program for advisors new to travel. We’ll talk you through it when we meet. There’s more on our new-to-travel page.

If you need a full program and close supervision from day one, Connected Travel or the Cert III route into Your Travel Centre gives you more of that today.

Which host agencies require experience?

The big networks are clear that they want experienced people, and they’re entitled to. If you have no travel background, you can skip them for now and come back in a couple of years. The table above has their entry rules.

What should you do before you apply?

Decide whether you want a job or a business

A host agency is a business you run. You’re self-employed, you earn commission only, and you find your own clients. If you want a wage while you learn, or you have no client list, a job in a retail agency is the better start for most people, and plenty of good home-based advisors began that way. The exception is someone with a real network of people who already ask them for travel help.

Get a Certificate III in Travel

The SIT30222 Certificate III in Travel is the entry qualification most networks look for, and it includes GDS training. There are no entry requirements, and you can do the whole thing online.

If you’re in Victoria, a subsidised Cert IV at Holmesglen can cost less than a full-fee Cert III. The full comparison is in Cert III vs Cert IV in Travel.

Work out your first year’s money

Say you sell $100,000 in your first year at a 10% average commission, so $10,000 of commission. After published fees and start-up costs, ex GST, you’d keep $7,812 on Niftrip and $5,550 on Your Travel Centre’s Budget plan. Plan for a slow first year. TravelManagers’ own cost guide says “it often takes 12-24 months to start generating a healthy amount of revenue”, and that’s for experienced people.

The travel agent salary guide shows how commission builds from year one to year three.

Start your client list now

Your first year depends most on how many people already trust you with their holidays. Start a spreadsheet today of everyone who has asked you for travel advice. When you join a network, those are your first clients.

Ask the right questions

Before you sign with anyone, ask for each of these.

How to choose a host agency has the full list.

What should beginners watch out for?

Be careful with any setup where you pay to join and earn money by recruiting other people. InteleTravel, for example, charges a US$179.99 enrolment fee and US$39.95 a month and runs a multi-level marketing side through PlanNet. I explain how those models work in how to choose a host agency.

Be careful with overseas hosts too. Fora quotes its fees in US dollars, and one Australian advisor with a US host wrote on Reddit that cruise lines wouldn’t let them book for non-US citizens. And be wary of anyone promising income within weeks.

Which host agency should a beginner choose?

My view: if you have no experience and no client list, either take a job in an agency for a year or two, or do a Cert III and join a network with a real beginner pathway. Connected Travel is the most complete program if you can afford it. Your Travel Centre is the clearest published route after a Cert III. Go Tours and Travelglobe are worth a call.

1. Job first

   1. Work in a retail agency For a year or two, paid a wage while you learn
   2. Build your client list Everyone who has asked you for travel advice
   3. Join a network Once you have clients and experience

2. Cert III first

   1. Certificate III in Travel From $3,145 full fee online at TAFE Queensland
   2. Apply to a network with a pathway Your Travel Centre, Travelglobe, Go Tours or Niftrip

3. Paid program

   1. Connect to Business Three months, $4,990 + GST
   2. Run your own business with Connected Travel Ongoing split and fees not published

If you’re comfortable with technology, already know your way around the industry and want low fixed costs while you build, Niftrip is worth a look. For the bigger picture on every Australian network, see the best host agencies in Australia.

The details

Where these figures come from

Every competitor fee and requirement on this page comes from that network’s own website, checked on 20 October 2026.

More on each beginner network

Connected Travel’s modules cover business foundations and compliance, booking airfares and using a GDS, booking systems, sales, quotes, itineraries and supplier relationships, with business coaching and support after you finish. It comes up regularly when newcomers ask for advice in Australian agent groups, including in replies from its own staff.

Your Travel Centre points newcomers to the online Certificate III from Travel Training Australia, delivered for FIT College. It says that with 20 hours of study a week you should finish in four to six months, and you have 12 months. Once you have your results, you apply. The $100 a month is the Budget plan and $200 the Premium plan. Its induction takes you “from your first login through to your first confirmed booking”, with live webinars, supplier certifications and ongoing mentoring.

Travelglobe’s join page says it welcomes agents “at all levels”. The same page also says, in another answer, that the minimum formal training is a Certificate IV in Travel and Tourism, so ask Travelglobe which one applies to you. The two-week course is followed by 12 months of monthly training and support, and Travelglobe says standout graduates “may secure a subcontractor role” in its network. The course price isn’t shown on the page; it’s free for existing members. The page also offers five weeks’ supported leave and “No Lock-In Contract”, marked with an asterisk that points to terms and conditions.

Go Tours offers optional phone training at $150 for four 30-minute sessions. Head office is there five days a week, with an after-hours number, and it promises “your clients remain yours, and we will never cross-promote to them”.

At Niftrip, the agency keeps supplier overrides as part of its margin, and you always see your commission rate. The first 3 months ($297 + GST) are paid up front, then it’s monthly with 30 days’ notice and no restraint of trade.

Networks that want experience

Beyond the years in the table, MTA’s page also asks for a ready client base and GDS experience, TravelManagers wants “proven success in sales and client relationship management”, and itravel asks how many years of retail experience you have.

Australian Escapes once took inexperienced trainees into a paid training group, and its page still mentions it, but the same page now says “we are currently only hiring experienced agents”. SmartFlyer Australia asks for experienced advisors, and I found no beginner program for Australia.

Certificate III notes

The Cert III’s GDS training is what Travelglobe specifically asks for. In Victoria the Cert III isn’t subsidised, but the Certificate IV at Holmesglen is. The Cert III vs Cert IV guide covers state subsidies too.

First-year figures

Your Travel Centre’s fees are quoted including GST, so I’ve taken the GST out. Go Tours doesn’t say whether its fees include GST. None of these include the cost of a Cert III.

Other notes

A common piece of advice in Australian agent groups is that if you have no client list, you should work as an employee first. Experienced advisors in Australian groups keep telling newcomers to start with an Australian-based, accredited business. InteleTravel starts you at 70% of commission. Building a client base takes time, whichever network you choose.

Next step

If you’re new to travel, read our new-to-travel page. We run a program for advisors new to travel. We’ll talk you through it when we meet.