TravelMole Interview: Amir Kalmar, vice president of sales and marketing for Tourico Holiday Flights.

Think you can’t earn commissions on air? Think again, suggests Amir Kalmar, vice president of sales and marketing for Tourico Holiday Flights. His Orlando, Fla.-based company offers 3% airline commissions. “We manage to provide enough volume to the airlines with enough distribution to get good rates. We also have good relationships with airlines such as Delta and USAir,” he told TravelMole. Tourico pays agents 10% commissions on land packages. The company started a decade ago in the basement of an Israeli airline pilot now calls itself the largest receptive tour operator in North America. It services several thousand international clients. Tourico has made attractive deals with hotels, airlines and other suppliers, according to Mr Kalmar. It is further expanding its worldwide offices. “We want to cover the main tourist destinations everywhere in the world,“ he said. The once-modest company has come so far it was ranked 296th on Inc. Magazine’s 23rd annual ranking of the 500 fastest-growing companies in the US. It was only the only travel company included in the top 500. Tourico since its inception has looked to travel agents to sell its various worldwide tours. It deals with about 4,000 agents, according to Mr Kalmar. “But our bread and butter is more like around 700 agencies, though we have roughly another 35 register daily,” he said. “But we’re always looking for more agencies to spread out product line,“ he added. In the US, Tourico deals only with travel agents. It uses tour operators for its outside US destinations. Agents can find the site at www.oneminutebooking.com.