In recent decades, the tourism industry has been developing at an unprecedented pace. And because there are many people who want to open a travel agency. Surely you had to see and hear advertisements from previously unknown organizations more than once. However, this area is considered highly competitive, and therefore, if you do not think everything through carefully, you can very quickly “burn out” and lose all your invested funds.
First of all, you need to realize the global nature of one of the most common myths that it is easy to open your own travel company. Many believe that all that is needed for this is to rent an office, put people in there, take orders from customers and swim in the money received. However, at the same time, those who want to open a travel agency do not at all take into account one fact. The fact is that 99% of people are willing to pay more, but use the services of a long-known and respected company.
Let's find out what it takes to open a travel agency.
License
You cannot start work without it at all. And the requirements for obtaining a license are quite serious - at least 20% of your employees must have higher, additional, or at least secondary specialized education in this area. Another option is to have at least 3 years of experience in this business. For travel agency executives, these 2 requirements are combined. The license is issued by the Department of Tourism of the Ministry of Economic Development. And you should already have prepared an office and all relevant documents. All other expenses should be supplemented by rental costs (about 60 days when the tourism department will consider your application).
Other certificates
In addition to the license, you will need a certificate that confirms that the services provided to your agencies comply with current quality standards. And also a hygiene certificate confirming that you have taken courses where they told you in detail what tropical diseases tourists can expect.
Office
If you set out to open a travel agency, carefully consider the interior of the office - the impression of your customers will largely depend on it. Indoors must be present several phones and a dedicated Internet. On the walls of the office should hang as many diplomas and certificates as possible. They will help increase customer confidence in you.
Seasonality
If you want to open a travel agency in high season, it is better to start preparing in 2-3 months. The second half of April, June-September and the end of November-December are the most profitable periods in tourism. But “stagnant” can be called October, January, February, and to some extent March.
Advertising campaign
You will need to launch a large-scale marketing campaign on the network, as well as describe your services in the print media of the city. Only a few agencies can afford advertising on TV or radio.
Difficulties of a starting agency
The first year is very difficult. At least due to the fact that a full-fledged customer base has not been formed . Regular customers begin to appear only in the 2-3rd year. On the 3rd, in addition, many entrepreneurs generally abandon the idea of engaging in an agency, as there is a feeling of some stagnation in business. At this stage, more than 40% of agencies are screened out. However, the remaining ones are finally fixed in their niche.
Cost and profit
If you are thinking about how to open a travel agency in Russia, you should consider expenses such as office rent, an advertising campaign, employee salaries and various taxes. Start-up companies rarely cross the bar of 50 trips per month, although larger and more well-known competitors in the high season can serve both 200 and 300 customers. Profit comes from an agreement with a tour operator (with which the agency’s share and commission are also agreed in advance). The average ticket price is $ 400. And the percentage of commission most often is about 10%. After simple calculations, we get a monthly profit in the amount of 2 to 8 thousand cu