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Glite Dictionary
travel agency

travel agency

20 2.4
A business that arranges trips like flights and hotels
  • noun
  • /ˈtrævəl ˈeɪdʒənsi/
translation icon : agencia de viajes
  • She works at a travel agency, arranging trips for families and couples.

I got up and I ran into the travel agency and this guy look like Sammy Hagar, OK?

Examples

  • Afterward, Holly and I drove over to the travel agency where her friend worked, and I picked up my airline tickets.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • We can call a travel agency and check all the resort names.

    Spellbound (1945)

  • I would be maybe maybe working part time for a travel agency so that you can start to get some background and experience.

  • On your way out there, you might want to stop by a travel agency.

    Mamaboy (2016)

  • I just came from the travel agency.

    Nine to Five (1980)

  • For the last three years, Karen had been working at a travel agency in the Madison Arms Hotel in Manhattan.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • One student was hired by a travel agency to translate documents from Mandarin into English.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Managing a travel agency in Ann Arbor, Michigan, gave Barbara opportunities to travel worldwide.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Employee-owned TravelStore is a top national travel agency specializing in luxury travel.

    Blog text (3)

  • Despite the rising number of self-booked vacations, travel agencies are still great for finding a ski vacation rental.

    Blog text (28)

Synonyms

travel agent
vstravel agency
33 1.6

A person or company that books tickets, hotels and transport for people going on a trip

is a registered business that organizes transport accommodation and full itineraries

How Full-Service

travel agency
20 2.4
travel agent
33 1.6
tour guide
45 2.2

Surface Forms

travel agency singular
travel agencies plural

Morphology

travel + agency

The meaning is directly and transparently built from 'travel' (journeying) + 'agency' (a firm offering services), so 'a business that arranges travel' is immediately inferable. This noun–noun compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the MWE.

Etymology

Travel agency joins the words travel, meaning a journey, and agency, meaning an office or person who helps you. Imagine someone at a desk buying plane tickets, booking hotels and planning routes, so a travel agency is a business that 'arranges' trips for people.