A business degree will never hurt in any thing you decide either with a booking agency or another life direction. My background is in wildlife management but I made no money. I stayed in school to get an electrical engineering degree.
Ray is a Booking agent, I am a Professional hunter, Huge difference! Ray will direct you to hunts all over the world. I will only assit you with hunts I take you on and in only RSA. I went to school in RSA to the Professional hunters academy. One of the more difficult accomplishemtns of my life so far. The school is bilingual mandatory. The test is ten days long and in the bush covering every aspect of hunting, medicine, safety marksmanship, archery, photography, tracking, skinning, butchering, etc etc. 50% of those tested fail! So yeah I'm not a "booking agent" I'm a professional Hunter, A huge difference easy to understand for those who have actually done both!
I suppose my suggestion to you would be to work with a travel agency that books hunting travel. Not really the hunting trips but just the travel to the hunting locations. Once you have the travel knowledge in a year you can begin looking for a booking agency that might need some help. That will be tough because you will need to stay at the travel agency or have other employment. Booking agency pay is not going to support you as an employee. Maybe as the owner, but no way as an employee. After a few years of that you may feel you have learned the ropes and might want to dive in with your own business.
The tough part about this is money management. You will make waht might seem like a windfall from time to time. However beware there will be plenty of dry times between them. Bills still have to be paid and you must eat! If possible you might try for work at a bigger booking agency that would pay a bit better but you will never have the weatlh you desire as an employee of one of these places. Not unless you own it. Even then the money is not really consistant or very dependable.
If you have the ability to run a business like this while making a living through another means then the added income is awsome. However that require a very flexable day job and lots of hours to make everything run smooth.
One last comment. If anything gets screwed up your fault or not in this business you are sunk with the internet. One bad hunt or poor arrangement or anything that gets screwed up and your business will be plastered about the internet on every hunting website.
All the good reviews will be irrelevent and the bad one will spoke people. I have had over 200 hunters with me in Africa. yet only a few dozen have ever posted what a great time they have had. They all had just as good an experience but few write when things are good. On the other hand let a hunter feel he was screwed and that guy will go out of his way 100% of the time to post everyplace he can find. I have seen this with other guides in Alaska and in Africa.
I wish you well in this.
