How to open a travel agency from scratch, where to start. How to open a travel agency from scratch How to open a travel agency at home

Opening a travel agency is not as difficult as opening a car dealership or an insurance company. But to withstand the crazy pace of the market and oppose yourself to thousands of competitors is not an easy task.

The tourism business is very attractive for budding entrepreneurs, because it does not require large financial investments, and the demand for tours is always high. But only a few, the most prepared, manage to avoid the pitfalls of which there are a great many in the “leisure industry”.

Today tourism is widespread; according to forecasts, the number of travelers will only grow every year. The number of travel agencies is increasing, new hotels and restaurants are being built, new airports are opening, and the tourism infrastructure is developing rapidly. The tourism business is experiencing a significant boom, and for many businessmen there is a real opportunity to become a participant in this interesting business.

So, let's look step by step at how to open a travel agency from scratch as a novice entrepreneur.

Before deciding to open a business, you need to at least generally imagine the state of affairs in the industry in which you plan to work.

So, what are the characteristics of the tourism business today:

• The average market growth dynamics over 10 years is 5.8% per year.
• The retail market (travel agents) is poorly consolidated; independent agencies dominate the market; large chains account for no more than 8-10% of the market volume.
• Competition in the retail (travel agency) market is very high.
• A large percentage of new travel agencies close without even one year of operation. The average rotation in the small tourism industry is 30% per year. That is, out of 100 agencies created at the beginning of the year, no more than 70 firms survive until the end of the first summer season.
• Tourism is subject to dumping, that is, an artificial reduction in the price of supply on “last minute” destinations; even in the high season, you can find tours and air tickets significantly lower than the average price.
• The tourism business is highly susceptible to external influences, be it bad weather, natural disasters, strikes, political instability or terrorist attacks. Each such event forces travel companies to react quickly and take emergency measures to protect their clients and not suffer financially themselves. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. At the same time, every event in the world can become a reason for a tourism boom. Sports competitions, festivals, exhibitions, concerts, public holidays, opening of new hotels and resorts - you can’t count everything. Therefore, the tourism industry has the opportunity to constantly develop, and its participants make a profit through the skillful use of tourism resources.

Where to start

At the planning stage of the company's activities, it is necessary to determine the target audience of buyers. This is necessary to create a project concept, since the characteristics and preferences of your potential buyers will influence the choice of office location, the range of tours, very likely the name of the travel agency, and then the means and methods of promoting services.

Business plan

Then you need to write . What should you pay special attention to when drawing up a business plan?

• Do not overestimate the number of tourists - there may be fewer of them than you expect.
• Set aside as much as possible for unforeseen expenses; they may be more than you expect.
• When calculating income, take into account possible discounts for clients, which are deducted from the agency fee.
• Do not underestimate the figures associated with organizing the work of a travel agency, set prices slightly above average. By following these simple rules, you will avoid problems associated with a lack of funding or an increase in the expected payback period of the project.

Company name

The next stage is the name of the future travel agency. The company name must reflect the essence of its activities and be unique. It should also be clear to your customers and easy to remember.

Domain and website

Having chosen a name for a travel company, you need to choose the most sonorous and easy-to-remember name (domain) of the site. As a rule, the domain matches the name of the company or reflects the specifics of the activity. If the company name is long, more than 8-10 characters, then abbreviations are used, they are easier to remember and there is less chance of making a mistake when typing the address on a computer. If you are registering a domain consisting of two words, we recommend paying for two domains, with and without a hyphen, this will reduce the number of errors and protect you from competitors.

When ordering a website, do not make quick decisions - a website is not made in one day. First, decide what functions it will perform: a simple business card or an information resource with the ability to search and order tours, with online modules (airport displays, exchange rates, world weather), a regional geography block, a photo gallery, maps and diagrams of resorts, catalogs hotels, etc.

Selecting the main tourist destinations for sale

How to choose which tours your agency will sell? Here are a few examples of how the first tourist destinations for work are determined in practice.

1. Your project already implies certain tourist destinations based on the name of the company (TA “Africa Safari”).
2. You hire managers with experience in certain travel destinations and make them your main ones.
3. You have personally visited some countries, have an idea about them and can successfully sell tours.
4. By a strong-willed decision, you choose countries that you think are interesting and carefully prepare for selling tours.
5. Nothing comes to your mind, you don’t know which countries to sell tours to. Pay attention to the seasons and seasons; they determine the sales of certain destinations and the preferences of your first customers.
6. In addition to targeting countries, you can choose types of tourism, such as beach holidays, medical tours, children's holidays, active tourism, eco-tourism, etc.
7. Study demand and fashion trends in tourism using open sources.

There is another approach: the more destinations you offer to clients, the more tourists you can attract. But statistics and surveys show that consumers give preference to those companies that specialize in a certain destination, and travel agencies that can tell you in detail about the chosen vacation spot. If you are a multidisciplinary company, you will have to promote each area separately.

Selection of tour operators

To start operating a travel agency, you need to select tour operator partners. It is advisable for each tourist destination to have signed agreements with at least three tour operators, since not always one operator will have confirmation of all hotels and arrival dates that suit tourists.

How to choose a tour operator:

• make a list of tour operators for a specific tourist destination, using professional ratings, the press, travel guides and other specialized publications, the Internet (unfortunately, the frequency of mentioning a tour operator in ratings, reviews, articles is often due to financial investments in the operator’s image and does not always correspond to the quality of the product offered) ;
• get acquainted with the services of tour operators, price offers, conditions of work with agencies through Internet sites, tour operator catalogs;
• If possible, make inquiries about the quality of work using recommendations from colleagues, professional forums and reviews of tourists from travel agencies on the Internet.

Choosing premises for a travel agency office

Finding and choosing premises for a travel company is one of the important issues in establishing a business. First of all, you need to decide what kind of office you need for your project - its size, location, equipment.

What types of travel company offices are there:

• first line of houses, second line of houses, inside a residential complex;
• in a business center, administrative or office building;
• in a specialized business center for tourism;
• in a residential building;
• in a shopping center, hypermarket;
• in the lobby of the hotel complex;
• in the building of train stations and airports;
• in the building of professional institutions: medical centers, fitness clubs, educational institutions, etc.;
• within walking distance, transport accessibility from the metro.

After the office has been found and the documents have been properly completed, it is necessary to prepare it for the sale of tours: organize and equip workplaces, think over comfortable places for visitors, arrange it so that every client who comes into the office understands that this is a travel agency.

Agency registration

Carrying out business activities in the field of tourism without registering a legal entity or registering a citizen as an individual entrepreneur is illegal. Therefore, it will be necessary to register an LLC or individual entrepreneur.

Unfortunately, it is common among entrepreneurs to treat constituent documents as some kind of insignificant formality. Meanwhile, this is a very dangerous misconception. Constituent documents are, first of all, the order that defines the relationship of the founders of the company with each other and with its hired management. Formally drawn up, so-called standard, constituent documents can lead to serious conflicts between business partners and the management of the company or can protect the interests of the founders, protect the organization from a hostile takeover and solve many other problems.

Also, depending on the country in which you will open a travel agency, it may be necessary to obtain a special license for this type of activity. In Russia, the law does not provide for mandatory licensing for the activities of a travel agent.

Before a travel agency starts operating, it is necessary to choose a tax regime. To keep records, you need to use the services of a professional accountant; it is very difficult to understand all the intricacies of tax legislation on your own. While your company has not yet developed enough, you can hire a “coming” accountant, but when the number of transactions exceeds 100-200 per month, it is better to hire a permanent employee or get a subscription accounting service.

Staff

The minimum staff of a travel agency, as a rule, consists of: a manager who is involved in sales, a manager and a courier. In this case, accounting is carried out by a law firm or a visiting accountant. This arrangement of personnel is very common in travel agencies. What are the disadvantages of this option? If for some reason the director or manager does not come to work, one employee will not be able to cope or will work to the detriment of the quality of the services provided. This option can be “saved” if you hire a second manager without work experience or a student at a tourism university on a part-time basis.

The optimal staff of a small travel company looks something like this: a director, two managers, a secretary with an extended range of responsibilities, a courier, an accountant-cashier, and a cleaner.

In the tourism business there is a general trend towards increasing wages. This is due to the existing personnel “hunger”. Specialists with experience move to another company, where they offer a slightly higher salary for the same full-time position, and this can happen every six months. The lack of qualified specialists leads to staff turnover and salary increases in order to lure employees away.

Professional universities do not train personnel as well as the market requires, so managers without experience have to be trained on the job. At the same time, managers with work experience “become more expensive” every month and, unfortunately, not always justifiably.

There is no standard generally accepted remuneration scheme for travel agencies. Each agency develops its own system of bonuses, fines, mandatory sales volumes and the number of tours sold and, based on these data, calculates employee salaries.

Advertising

To start operating a travel company, you must have a minimum set of promotional materials that are issued to potential clients and business partners and help in the implementation of tours.

A travel agency can do without outdoor advertising, but if there is such an opportunity, be sure to use it. Outdoor advertising attracts tourist clients from the street, from nearby offices and houses, who learn about the travel agency after seeing an attractive sign. As a rule, travel companies use the following outdoor advertising media: a sign, an information board on the front door, a sign on a roadside pole, a floor pillar, advertising banners in windows, advertising on transport.

Now you know how to open a travel agency from scratch and what first steps you need to take. Start making your dream come true and build a successful business!

The idea of ​​organizing your own business in the field of tourism can be a profitable investment. The demand for such services is currently growing all over the world, and the fact that with a small investment of money you can ultimately make a significant profit attracts novice businessmen to engage in this type of activity. How to open a travel agency from scratch so that it is profitable and quickly recoups the investment - we will analyze in detail all the necessary steps for its formation and prosperity.

Where to start organizing

So, where to start a tourism business? The first step should be to draw up a business plan, which will contain all the necessary actions for its organization, as well as a calculation of the necessary investments, the projected payback period and the amount of monthly profit.

Step-by-step instructions on how to open a travel agency contains the following points:

• analysis of market saturation and the possibility of opening in a specific region;
• obtaining information about existing competitors, their main advantages and disadvantages;
• registration as an individual entrepreneur or LLC;
• choosing the location of the agency office, drawing up a lease agreement, purchasing premises or deciding to locate the agency itself at home;
• determination of the main types of services provided;
• acquisition of necessary org. equipment and furniture;
• search and hiring of personnel;
• concluding agreements with tour operators;
• organization of advertising;
• opening.

Let's look at the most significant stages of how to open a travel agency from scratch in Russia.

Tourist infrastructure

Registration and paperwork

Registration of a travel agency includes the following steps:

1. choice of organizational form (this can be either an individual - an individual entrepreneur, or a legal entity - most often an LLC);
2. choosing a suitable company name and legal address;
3. the registration process, after which you will be issued a state-issued certificate;
4. purchase of a cash register, its registration and registration at the place of provision of services.

If, having asked yourself the question of how to organize a tourism business from scratch, you choose the LLC form of business, then you will need to determine the size of the authorized capital, as well as formalize the founders. The minimum amount of authorized capital must be at least 10 thousand rubles and is subject to distribution among the founders of the LLC.

Room location

How to open a travel agency from scratch in order to attract as many potential buyers as possible? One of the answers to this question is the convenient and advantageous location of your office. The main options that will be most beneficial for you are the following:

• in places with high foot traffic. These could be areas in which organizations are located, other offices - the city center, its busier areas. On the one hand, in such places, renting an office is more expensive than in less crowded places, but then you will have to spend more money on advertising your business;
• inside a shopping center. This option is also very profitable from the point of view of a large flow of people. In addition, it may cost you less than renting a separate building or premises;
• in residential areas. The flow of people in such places is somewhat less, but by renting a room near public transport stops or facing a busy road, it is quite possible to ensure that your company will be visible. Then the number of people willing to use the services will be considerable;
• The most budget-friendly option for office location is to organize it at home. How to open a travel agency at home, is this really possible? Recently, when using the Internet you can get acquainted with the services of various companies and discuss over the phone aspects of what kind of vacation the client prefers, this option is often used by novice businessmen. Of course, for this you still need to allocate a separate room in your house or apartment, equipping it accordingly. As practice shows, this option, with skillfully organized advertising and other marketing moves, can generate income even more than those companies that pay expensive rent for an office in the city center.

Services provided

One of the first and important stages of the process of how to open your own travel agency from scratch is the choice of the type of activity, as well as the range of services provided. The list of possible ones included in the package of tourist services is as follows:

• organizing delivery of the client to a vacation spot (air travel, travel by car, etc.);
• delivery from the place of arrival to the hotel (transfer);
• resolving issues related to hotel accommodation and, in particular, food;
• organization of related services (excursions, additional events);
• delivery of the client to the train station (airport) and back to the place of departure.

The tourism business itself can have the following areas:

• excursion tours;
• tours aimed at recreation or health improvement for children;
• beach holiday;
• organization of treatment (mainly preventive);
• business tours;
• shopping tours;
• educational trips;
• gastronomic tours.

It is worth noting that your future travel agency as a business will have more opportunities for its profitability, the more services you can provide. This is mainly due to the fact that in this way the circle of potential clients increases. At the same time, you should not forget about the quality of your work - positive reviews from people who have used the services of your company can become good advertising in the future.

Having chosen a room for an office location, first of all you will need to start repairing and finishing it (if necessary). At the same time, it is important to remember that the services of travel agencies are mainly used by wealthy people, and comfort and a cozy atmosphere are very important to them. You can add some elements of corporate attributes, photographs of countries and places that your client may visit to the agency’s interior.

From furniture and office equipment you will need the following:

• tables and chairs for company employees;
• computers or laptops;
• printer (this can be a monoblock that combines the functions of a printer, scanner and fax);
• telephone;
• stationery;
• Internet equipment. It is worth noting that in the work of a travel agency, the speed of the Internet is very important, as well as its constant availability, because most of the operations carried out by the company’s employees will be carried out with the help of it;
• furniture for clients. For starters, this could be a comfortable sofa, armchairs and a table.

Hotel in resort

Recruitment

After equipping everything necessary to work in the premises and carry out repairs, you can begin recruiting personnel.

When considering how to become a travel agent at home, you may not even need to hire employees at first, providing services personally. In this case, you can slightly reduce the cost of purchasing furniture for employees, and, as an option, use what is already in the house, if it is of proper quality and condition.

One of the important aspects of the question of how to become a travel agent from scratch is the selection of personnel who can most advantageously present the services provided by your company and convince the person who comes to you to become a client. In this regard, when selecting employees, the following points should be taken into account:

1. if possible, employ people who already have experience in this field - such a person will not need to be additionally trained and explained the principle of work;
2. future employees of the company must look neat, communicate politely, competently and correctly;
3. employees of your travel agency must be fluent in computer programs and be a confident Internet user.

After selecting employees, it will be necessary to officially employ them by concluding employment contracts with them.

Concluding agreements with tour operators

An equally important point on how to open your own travel agency from scratch is concluding agreements with tour operators.

One of the distinguishing features of a travel agency from a tour operator is that the agency, when providing services and selling ready-made tours to clients, already offers a ready-made package - that is, it cooperates only with the tour operator. The tour operator is in contact with hotels, airports, train stations, excursion bureaus, and in case of any violations of the contract (provision of inadequate services, discrepancy between the declared service and the actual one, problems with the delivery of clients), it is he who bears legal responsibility.

As a rule, it is better to enter into contracts with several operators who offer trips to different parts of the world and will satisfy any age category of clients and will correspond to their financial capabilities.

After starting work, when selling a certain tour, you will return its cost to the tour operator, and receive direct profit from the trade margin. The markup in most travel agencies is about 10-15% of the cost of the tour and, as a rule, this is quite enough to recoup the investment and receive a monthly income.

Marketing actions and ways to increase income

Having considered the main points of what is needed to open a travel agency, one cannot fail to mention the need to implement marketing moves that involve advertising and promoting your business. Of these, the following are worth noting:

• advertising in the media - television, radio, print media (you should especially pay attention to popular magazines);
• outdoor advertising. This is, first of all, the design of the facade of your office premises, a bright sign that glows at night, you can also install billboards and banners in other areas of the city;
• advertising on the Internet. In addition to all the possible options for online advertising, you must create your own website, which will contain all the necessary information for clients - a list of possible tours, their basic conditions, payment, organizational issues. It would be a good idea to separately provide the opportunity to write reviews about the work, because comments from grateful clients will help attract even more people who want to use your services;
• providing regular customers with discounts and bonuses;
• monitoring the quality of services provided and promptly responding to problems that arise to quickly resolve them and, ultimately, provide positive emotions to vacationers.

Depending on the range of services provided, the number of clients, the presence of branches, monthly profit can start from 50 thousand rubles per month, and its upper threshold will depend only on the efforts you make in developing your business.

As practice shows, capital investments in organizing and opening a travel agency pay off in less than one year.

In Europe and America, people have long been refusing the services of large agencies and companies in favor of independent consultants. Similar trends are observed in our country.

Becoming a tour operator is an opportunity to create an excellent launching pad for the further development of your own business.

What attracts people to this work? High salaries, constant travel... To many, the life of a travel agent seems like a real fairy tale. But at the same time, almost no one dares to take any decisive steps towards fulfilling their dreams. Don't want to be one of them? Then this article is for you!

Step 1. Training

If you are interested in how to become a tour operator, you first need to figure out where and how you will undergo training.

There are two options here: regular colleges and universities, as well as special operator training schools.

The first option is attractive because you will study in depth all disciplines related to tourism and hospitality and gain a huge base of theoretical knowledge. However, it will take several years to complete the entire course of study. An alternative is distance learning. Actually, you will appear at the educational institution itself 2-3 times a year, and you can use the rest of the time to prepare the ground for further work.

If you want to get the most useful practical information and start working as soon as possible, it would be more logical to enroll in a special operator training school. Here you will learn how to become a tour operator, get a general understanding of tourist destinations, sales and booking systems, marketing, etc.

Step 2: Obtain Certification

Working as a tour operator is impossible without obtaining certification. For your future clients, this will be proof of your competence and deep knowledge of the specifics of your activity. Consequently, they will trust you much more.

As a rule, appropriate certificates can be obtained at the place of study. But some people turn to CLIA International, which offers well-known and respected certification programs in the travel industry.

Step 3. Obtaining a license

If you want to have your own travel agency, it is better to register your business as a legal entity (CJSC, LLC, etc.). But for those who want to become a travel agent (that is, an intermediary between a travel agency and its clients), it will be enough to register as an individual entrepreneur - PBOYUL. To obtain a license, you will need to pay a state fee of 1,300 rubles.

You should be aware that the sales license and pre-booking of air travel are issued separately. Certification conditions are dictated by Federal Aviation Regulations. At the same time, certain requirements are imposed on the premises, personnel, security and reservation systems. If you intend to sell not only travel packages, but also air tickets, you will need to enter into an agreement with the airline and obtain this certificate.

When deciding to become a travel agent, it is very important to choose the right OKVED codes. The most commonly used code is 63.30 - “Activities of travel agencies.” In addition, it is advisable to apply for inclusion in the All-Russian Register of Travel Agencies.

Step 4. Selecting a tour operator company

Perhaps this is the most important stage. A travel agent can independently choose which of the many operators to cooperate with. When choosing, you should take into account the size of the remuneration, the company’s reputation in the market and ease of work.

An important question that almost everyone who is interested in becoming a travel agent faces is: “Where to look for these same operators?” The easiest way to do this is by visiting specialized tourism fairs, exhibitions, etc. It is best to “catch your luck” in Moscow, where similar events are held annually (MITT, MITF, Intourmarket, Otdykh). Hundreds of representatives of various companies and organizations gather here. As they say, there is plenty to choose from. In addition, you can visit similar regional exhibitions.

A variety of conferences and fairs are also held in workshop format by professional travel publications (Tour Business, Banco, Turinfo, Travel Expert consulting group, etc.). The atmosphere at a workshop is usually calmer and more business-like than at exhibitions. There are more opportunities to meet partners, discuss important issues and get ready for work.

Step 5. Conclusion of an agreement

But now we get to the most important thing. How to become a travel agent? Once you have decided on the choice of tour operator, you will need to sign an agency agreement. According to the terms of such a document, you will receive a reward for each tour sold. The size of the reward may vary, but on average it is about 10-15% of the cost of the tour itself. If in the future you establish yourself well in the eyes of the tour operator and successfully sell tours, the percentage you receive from each transaction may increase.

In addition, partners of travel agencies that are part of agency networks (for example, Kuda.ru or the Last Minute Travel Chain of stores) receive an increased commission. Due to powerful corporate support, agencies that are part of such networks (which, by the way, are not so easy to get into) have the opportunity to deduct a fairly large percentage of their income.

Step 6. Advertising

Let's say you have already found a suitable company and entered into an agreement. Done: now you are a tour operator in Italy, France, Greece or Russia. It would seem that everything is going well, but... But no, for some reason in a few weeks you managed to sell only a few trips. And then to my friends. This is where the lack of advertising of your services comes into play.

First of all, we would recommend that you pay attention to the numerous publications, catalogs and applications that publish tourism advertising. Of course, standing out among hundreds and thousands of other offers is not easy. Therefore, first of all, you need to decide on your target audience.

Increasingly, citizens of our country spend their holidays abroad, traveling to different countries. But tourist trips around the country do not stop. , following this trend, is also developing. New agencies and tour operators are appearing, hotels are being built. not a very complicated process. The biggest difficulty is the huge competition. And before joining their close ranks, you need to decide in the role of whom you will act. Currently, the most common types of organizations are: Tour Operator or Travel Agent. So who are they?

What is a tour operator and travel agent?

A tour operator is a legal entity that is engaged in the formation, promotion and sale of a tourism product, in accordance with the law of the Russian Federation “On the fundamentals of tourism activities in the Russian Federation.” Simply put, it is an organization that prepares and promotes tourism offers. The tour operator will organize meals and hotel accommodation. Provides transportation, excursions, etc.

There are several ways to sell tourism products. For example, using travel agencies. In this case, all responsibility for the quality of the service provided falls on the tour operator.

A travel agency is an organization that promotes and sells the tourism product of a tour operator. In accordance with the law of the Russian Federation “On the fundamentals of tourism activities”. A travel agency can be opened by either a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur. This is an intermediary between tourists and the tour operator, who receives his commission. A travel agent buys a tourism product that is formed and ready for sale from the operator. And offers it to the end consumer. For this sale I receive a monetary reward.

Quite often, a tourism organization combines the functions of a travel agent and a tour operator. For example, a tourism organization creates and offers a tour of Italy, acting as a tour operator. And at the same time, this travel agency acts as a travel agent, implementing a tour to France, formed by another tour operator.

It is important to know that tourism happens:

• entry - travel on the territory of the Russian Federation by people who do not permanently reside in Russia;
• outbound - travel of citizens of the Russian Federation abroad;
• domestic - travel within the Russian Federation by Russian citizens.

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To open and operate a travel agency, special permits are not required by law. Therefore, this type of tourism business, as practice shows, is more widespread. Let's look at the main stages of creating a travel agency (travel agent).

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Business plan

At the first stages of opening any business, it is necessary to draw up a business plan. First you need to decide for what purpose it is being compiled and for whom. For example, to obtain a loan, for a private investor, for yourself. It is necessary to calculate the amount of investment for a year, six months, a month. You can draw up a business plan yourself or order it from a consulting company.

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Choosing a travel agency name

A lot depends on the successful name of the travel company. It helps promote the company’s services on the market, creates an associative range and style associated with the company. A successful name is remembered well and quickly, which is very important when there is a lot of competition.

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Website creation

Nowadays, to organize your business, you need Internet support. Take care of creating your own company website. This service can be ordered from professionals, but it is possible to make a simple website on your own. To do this, you need to choose hosting (the place where your site is “physically” stored) and a domain name. This is the address of your page, which should echo the name of your company. This will make it easier for potential clients to remember and find you.

There are many free and highly detailed website builders available. Choose one and, following the instructions and tips, create your website. To begin with, it is enough to create a one-page website, where there will be information about you, contacts, and a short list of services.

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Selection of tourist destinations

As experts advise, narrowly focused businesses sell their goods and services better. Buyers are more often turning to specialized stores. The same rule applies in the tourism business. It is better to offer specific tours to your clients. For example: “Our agency selects therapeutic tours around Russia using a unique method for children and adults.” Instead of the sentence “We will select any tour.” The first option is more informative and understandable.

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How to choose tour operator partners

When signing a cooperation agreement with a tour operator, pay attention to the availability, validity period and amount of financial security. To the number in the Federal Register of Tour Operators. For the duration of work in the tourism business. Pay attention to the number of employees in this company, the presence of diplomas and awards. Find out where the tour operator's office is, its size and presence, availability of management information, etc. There are no exact criteria for selecting the best and most reliable partners. Try to find out as much as possible about them.

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Where does the tourism business begin?

So, where should you start when opening a tourism business:

• office selection. In order to organize a tourism business, you need to find suitable premises. It is worth choosing office space in areas with maximum traffic. In a well-promoted shopping center, in a business center, on the central streets of the city, next to the metro;
• preparation of a business plan;
• recruitment. According to experts, integrity and diligence are the most important criteria in personnel selection. Quite often, aspiring entrepreneurs hire their friends and relatives. Perhaps this is not such a bad choice in the tourism business;
• advertising. Print business cards, advertise on the Internet, post or distribute leaflets. Students can be hired for this work;
• paperwork. Find out what documents you need to prepare to open your own tourism business from the relevant authorities. The main thing is to arrange everything legally.

The tourism business is a very popular service sector in our country. There are many options for running it - from a home agency to franchise work.

In this article, we will analyze all the possible options, highlight their advantages and disadvantages, answer the question of what is needed to open a travel agency, and give some useful tips.

Pros and cons of business

When deciding to open a travel agency, you need to think carefully and calculate all the pros and cons of such a step.

The advantages and prospects of the idea include:

• a rapidly developing tourism business, which makes it possible to provide tourism services in many directions (in Russia, abroad, etc.), and as a result, the opportunity to receive corresponding profits;
• a wide selection of tour operators and the possibility of concluding contracts with one or several of them;
• a rapidly increasing flow of people who would like to use the services of agencies to organize their vacation;
• relatively simple preparation of registration documents and opening of a license.

The disadvantages and difficulties that may arise when opening such a business include:

• rapidly increasing competition in this area (every city now has at least several travel agencies that provide services similar to yours);
• complex predictability of client flow (depending on the success of the advertising campaign and the relevance of travel packages, the agency can either acquire a stable client base in a short period of time or fail to withstand the offers of competitors and be left without customers);
• seasonality of profitability. It is generally accepted that the business is all-season due to the possibility of selling winter tours (for example, Courchevel and other ski resorts). However, actual data show that in summer the demand for travel agency services is several times greater than the winter interest of clients.

We draw up a business plan

As with starting any other business, you will need to create a business plan. Outlining prospects for further development and risks When opening a travel agency, it is necessary to take into account a number of fundamental factors that influence the success and profitability of the enterprise.

It is necessary to think through and calculate in as much detail as possible all possible risks, expenses, payback periods for initial investments, additional costs in the promotion process, as well as estimated profits, based on the interest of the target audience.

The business plan must include expenses for:

• paperwork (registration, license to provide services, certificates, franchising);
• rent of office space;
• marketing campaigns, advertising;
• salary payments, including contributions to the tax service, pension fund, social insurance;
• ensuring the functioning of the office (including furniture, office equipment, office supplies).

Also, it is necessary to roughly calculate the possible profit (calculated based on general market monitoring in this area, seasonality, competition, marketing effectiveness of your company) and the risks associated with the unprofitability of the travel agency. Consider ways to eliminate these risks.

Location

One of the main stages of opening a travel agency is choosing an office to rent. It is advisable to rent office space in the city center, in a location close to business centers. This will provide you with the opportunity to engage VIP clients and also attract more attention.

Also, it is necessary to take into account that for greater efficiency it is desirable that there are no companies in the building (on the same street) providing similar services (elimination of competition).

The rented office must have access to the Internet. It is better to give preference to buildings that have a separate exit to the street and a parking area for cars.

How to attract clients?

Considering the high level of competition between travel agencies, securing a client base is one of the main priorities of a young organization.

If you have chosen a simple, but quite colorful and memorable name for your company, this can serve as an additional advantage when promoting.

Also, do not forget about the most effective method - “word of mouth”. Before opening a travel agency, tell all your friends and acquaintances about your plans, make notes on your pages on social networks, in general, try to let as many people as possible know about your idea.

Schedule for its first customers the maximum possible discounts and interesting promotions(quite often these discounts are made even at a loss to the company and are written off as advertising expenses), try to ensure that the services provided are at the highest level. In most cases, after successful trips, satisfied clients tell those around them about it, which motivates them to contact you.

Mandatory additional attributes should be business cards and prospectuses, which will indicate promotional offers that are superior in terms of the offers of competitors.

Moving on to consider the main marketing moves when promoting a travel agency, it is necessary to focus on advertising on the Internet. These can be either pop-up banners on the pages of visited sites or email services (an agreement is concluded with the management of the sites to allocate an area on the page: the cost, percentage occupancy of the strip on their Internet page, frequency of appearances, contract validity period are negotiated), and contextual advertising (when When you enter keywords in the search service line, it is your site that appears in key positions). These nuances must be discussed with the programmer who will develop your site.

A fairly effective method of attracting customers is video marketing. You can film the most interesting and frequently visited places in the proposed tours and post them on the Internet (for example, on Youtube). It is not necessary to use expensive filming equipment. These may be videos filmed on amateur cameras, but the plot of the commercials should convey emotion. At the end of the video there is a navigation block, by clicking on which your potential customers will be able to familiarize themselves with the conditions and cost of purchasing vouchers from your agency.

The following video contains tips on opening an agency and attracting clients:

Nuances of opening an agency

If you would like to eliminate additional costs and are aiming for a relatively minimal investment, then it makes sense to think about the following options for opening a travel agency.

At home

To open a home-based travel agency, you will first need to register your activity (company registration). After completing all the basic documents, it is most advisable to enter into an agreement with a large tour operator.

When concluding an agreement, try to avoid taking on obligations to ensure a fixed number of sold tours; focus on a simplified scheme: you provide clients to the main agency - the agency pays you a commission according to the work actually performed. This option does not include the cost of renting office space, which significantly reduces the cost of the project.

Online

The specifics of opening and developing an online tourism business can involve both working in an office and being at home, running a business from a home PC.

When registering your business activity, you will need to indicate the legal address of the enterprise and additionally record the name of the official website through which vouchers (services) will be sold. If the site provides for payment by bank transfer, as a rule, it is also necessary to register the company account to which transfers will be made.

By franchise

You can turn to an already well-known tour operator for help in establishing a company and enter into a franchise cooperation agreement with him. As a rule, the cost of a franchise directly depends on the popularity of the franchisor company and the conditions under which a larger company will provide you with a franchise.

In this case, you will receive additional information support and financial insurance from the parent organization and eliminate additional advertising costs.

How much does it cost to open a travel agency?

Depending on the conditions under which you plan to open a travel agency, you will need to calculate the amount of future costs.

As a rule, the most expensive thing is renting an office and purchasing everything necessary for it (furniture, office equipment, etc.). Rent cost may vary on average from 30,000 to 60,000 rubles(it all depends on the proximity of the office to the city center, its general condition: repairs, availability of communications and the conditions under which the lease agreement is concluded).

Completing the basic necessary documentation for registration (registration of LLC and license) may cost you from 8,000 to 12,000 rubles.

If a travel agency is opened under the auspices of a franchisor company, it is necessary to take into account the costs of concluding a franchise agreement.

In most cases, the contract is paid for once. However, over time, additional clauses and conditions may be included, which may change the value of the price originally agreed upon.

Also, the priority expenditure part includes wages to employees and corresponding monthly contributions to state funds for each of them. Usually, at the start, an accountant is not included in the staff, and the number of employees varies from 3 to 5-6 people (including the director). The average salary in the travel services industry fluctuates from 12,000 rubles and above, depending on the type of mutual settlements: constant rate, rate + interest, interest only. It is necessary to take into account that, according to the Labor Code, payment must be timely, so it is advisable that the amount for its payments be postponed for several months in advance.

We must not forget about the costs of marketing and promotions. This item must include the costs of printed advertising materials (business cards, leaflets, printed price lists, etc.), payment for creating an Internet site and its promotion (updating information, hosting). As a rule, all these investments amount to not less than 30,000 rub.. If you are planning a wide-format discount system as an opportunity to promote a travel agency and attract more clients, this amount can be increased significantly.

If you wish, you can use television, but it is better to focus on city TV channels. The cost of advertising airtime varies by region, but on average you can count on the cost 15,000-30,000 rub. when broadcasting a video several times a day. The cost of the video itself will cost you from 12,000-20,000 rub.(without sophisticated special effects, but with the involvement of a professional cameraman and editing, cutting of shots).

Also, there may be additional costs for logistics, any unforeseen expenses, payment of penalties and much more.

In general, if you have calculated all possible costs and risks and, after monitoring the market in the provision of travel agency services, have come to the conclusion that your company will be worthy competition to existing companies, feel free to get down to business!