Options and ideas for creating a successful travel business

Business idea: how to open a travel agency

Some may say that the market is oversaturated, but it's still too early to talk about hopelessness: every now and then travel agencies are opening that occupy a solid market niche and are successfully developing as a business. Even if at first you will not be able to compete with the big players, it is enough to find your zest, your main advantage, which will distinguish you from the main gray mass of competitors.

In general, the tourism industry is not having the best times now: there is little notorious competition, as well as tightening of legislation, a decrease in audience confidence and a crisis that forced many to cancel their vacation plans. Therefore, a business plan in the spirit of “rented an office, put a lively young lady on the phone and wait for the money to pour in” is no longer working - in order for a travel agency to bring at least a slightest profit, you will have to work.

There is good news: getting into this business is quite easy - starting capital of about 10 thousand dollars is enough to open a travel agency. Do not forget about the seasonality: the peak of sales of vouchers traditionally falls on the second half of April (May holidays), July-September (summer vacations) and November-December (New Year's holidays). The deadliest, respectively, can be considered January-February. Therefore, it is better to open a new company at this time in order to be in time for the first peak.

Before we start

The very first thing is to clearly understand the difference between travel agencies and travel operators. Agencies sell ready-made tours, and operators organize them. In order to open an agency, it is enough to agree with several tour operators and offer their clients additional services, for example, search for last minute tours, assistance in obtaining visas, transfer, etc. To become a tour operator, you need serious initial investments, good connections, and in general, not every successful travel agency runs the risk of doing this. That is why, within the framework of this article, we will talk about how to open a travel agency.

Since there are many times more travel agencies than tour operators, we recommend at the first stage to focus on one specific niche that would be most interesting to you and in which your staff would be as competent as possible. For example, it can be tours to Europe, tours to China, tours to the region, wedding tours, cheap tours costing up to N rubles, etc. Also consider services such as welcoming travelers from other cities / countries or working with corporate clients.

Since a travel company earns money on commissions from the sale of vouchers, your profit directly depends on the popularity of the company. Moreover, we are talking not only about the tourist flow as such (more clients - more money), but also the size of the commission itself: the minimum rate starts at 8% and no one knows the company is unlikely to give more. If this option does not suit you, you can go the other way and open a travel agency for a franchise. There are not many of them, but there is a choice - for example, TUI, Vell, Rosstur, Rose of the Winds, etc. A travel agency franchise will also solve many other issues: a well-known brand will elevate you above the competition, and obtaining a license will no longer resemble the circles of Hell.

Main risks: huge competition, great dependence on staff, a real opportunity to fly with a license.

“Step-by-step instructions on how to open a travel agency”

Location

Theoretically, you can open a travel agency even at home. But if you want your business not so much to survive as to grow, like tomatoes, and bring a stable income, you will have to find a pretty place for it - these may be areas that have not yet been captured by other travel agencies, large business centers, shopping centers etc. Many people say that for the travel business it is not at all necessary to spend money on an expensive office in a walkable place - however, we believe that this is not the case, especially if your plans include not only sitting on the phone, but also having live meetings with clients. Of course, purchasing a ticket is rarely an impulse decision, but a good place with good traffic will help you at least be remembered and eliminate the likelihood of stories in the spirit: I came and I didn't find them, I saw Tui and left. Alas, forever.

Every year the tourism market is developing more and more, but travel agencies, hotels and hostels are not the only ways of doing it. There are many unusual options that only a few people know about, but this does not make them less in demand.

This article will present alternative travel business ideas and seasonal entertainment, among which every aspiring businessman will find an ideal option for himself. It will also consider guides and business plans for starting your own business, valuable advice and recommendations, the nuances of this topic and features.

How to Start Your Tourism Business - Ideas List

Among all the existing ideas in the field of tourism, attention should be paid to:

Europe is famous for its high incomes from farmers who receive tourists. Russia is a country with a not very developed agritourism, but there is a prospect.

Provided that you have your own suburban area, which boasts a close location with a picturesque area, you can start creating an agriturismo.

Beautiful natural landscapes, unusual locations and distinctive natural views can all be a way to attract city dwellers who are tired of the bustle of metropolitan areas.

A zipline is a type of extreme attraction that allows you to downhill along steel cables.

The main tasks are the selection of a suitable area (most often it is an area with hills or picturesque views), installation of lines (companies that offer such services are very few) and the solution of financial transactions.

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The world tourism market is growing by 5% annually. What other areas of business in tourism, besides the organization of travel agencies, hotels and hostels, are there? In this compilation, we have compiled 25 alternative travel and seasonal entertainment business ideas, along with guides and start-up business plans.

In Europe, the share of farm income from the reception of holidaymakers reaches 40%. In Russia, agritourism is not yet so developed, but this direction has development prospects. If you have your own suburban area in an area that boasts beautiful natural landscapes, you can turn it into an agriturismo and receive guests from the city tired of the delights of civilization.

Zipline is an extreme attraction, the essence of which is a downhill ride on a steel rope. The main difficulty of this business in tourism lies in the selection of a location (usually hilly and picturesque terrain), installation of the line (there are practically no companies offering such services) and solving bureaucratic issues. On the other hand, due to the fact that the descent time is from 25 to 60 seconds, the zipline has a high throughput, and the cost of a single descent ticket can vary from 350 to 1,500 rubles.

The package business in tourism is rapidly losing its positions. More and more tourists are choosing independent travel. Nevertheless, the process of planning such trips is quite laborious, so today there are more and more personal travel services that allow customers to indicate their interests in a few clicks (gastronomic tourism, educational destinations, entertainment, etc.), choose cities of the route and attractions that there are to be visited, as well as modes of travel and budget. It remains for the entrepreneur to combine all these key points into one unique route.

Corn mazes are a popular entertainment in America and Europe, which has not yet reached our country: this niche in Russia is completely free. In corn fields, networks of passages are laid and quests are drawn up for the passage of cheerful companies, families and work collectives. The corn maze can be not only an interesting seasonal entertainment business, but also become a center of attraction for tourists from other regions.

City walking tours allow tourists to delve deeper into the history of the streets, explore objects and imagine themselves as participants in past events. An interesting direction in this tourism business is conducting excursions with themed mini-performances. Such a project can be launched for less than RUB 50,000.

An order of magnitude will be the costs of organizing your own excursion bureau with the organization of excursions in the region and the purchase of an excursion bus. For this business idea, you will need about 5.85 million rubles, and the initial investment will be repaid by about 17 months of work.

Zorbing is an extreme type of attraction. The idea of ​​a business is to lower a person in a transparent ball (zorb) from a hill or cross a reservoir inside this ball. Zorbing is another type of tourism business that is not practically represented in our country and is waiting for its pioneers.

Organization of hikes is a direction with an extremely wide range of formats. Hikes can have a cognitive orientation or include physical education and recreation activities, there are ski, mountain, water trips, circular and linear routes, long tours and weekend tours. The main advantage of hiking business is that they can bring together different groups of people. There are fishing, hunting, photography tours, business tours and so on. Typically, this business is seasonal.

Such kind of educational leisure as survival courses is popular abroad. Classes are divided into theoretical and practical parts, the last of which takes place in natural conditions. Course participants are trained in the provision of first aid, taught to build a shelter, make a fire, get water and food away from civilization. You can start such a business by a former military man, firefighter or rescuer. In large cities, for a two-day survival course, the presenters receive from 5-6 thousand rubles. per person.

Ready-made ideas for your business

The tourism business has always brought good profits. However, it is now quite difficult to organize it due to high competition. However, the types of tourism are constantly evolving, the main thing is not to miss an idea or come up with your own, original and unique.

People often want to visit some unusual places, so one of the most perceptive areas of tourism is organizing day trips to cities, cultural, historical or industrial sites.

The easiest way to start a travel business is to conclude an agency agreement with a large travel company and sell their tours. To do this, it is enough to rent a small place, for example, in a shopping center, and put a table and chairs there for customers. This is especially true in a small town where there are no large agencies.

Green tourism has become very popular. If you live in a village, in a forest zone, not far from a lake, you need to create comfortable living conditions and give good advertising. Many people are willing to pay money for the opportunity to take a break from the bustle of the city. In general, given the ecological situation in the world, people increasingly prefer tourism related to ecology and a healthy lifestyle. That is why many people prefer cycling or sports tourism, which can be turned into a great and profitable business.

This type of activity cannot be called easy, so it is probably more suitable, but there are many examples where women have done well in this field.

What other services in this area can be provided, read on this page.

A travel guide is an activity that is primarily related to working with people. In addition to a good knowledge of the history of the native land, for the implementation of a successful business idea, it is important to have an easy, charismatic character and be able to establish contact with people. If you are well acquainted with the history of your native land, share this knowledge with interested people How tour guides work General

The maintenance of a small hotel is above all hard work that brings satisfaction and some profit. If you enjoy interacting with people and have experience in tourism, it is worth giving it a try. For certain reasons, the tourism sector in Russia will develop rapidly, and if you manage to open a high-class hotel, guests will be happy to visit it. The most important condition for

Going on vacation, a tourist can spend a fairly large amount on entertainment, including the purchase of exotic souvenirs. A stand with souvenirs and other accessories in a seaside or mountain resort is a proven seasonal business. It has long been known that on vacation people spend more, without remorse buying handmade souvenirs and accessories, which will become a reminder of

If you are well versed in "quiet hunting" and you like to go fishing alone, do not hesitate - open a shop selling professional equipment for fishermen and start making money from your hobby. Fishing shop, this is an interesting business idea for real enthusiasts. If you focus on professionalism and a family atmosphere, you will not have to complain

The tourism industry is becoming more and more popular every year. New different destinations and routes for travel are emerging, and new entrepreneurs in this niche are trying to stand out from the competition and offer various interesting vacation ideas.

It should be noted that not only the direction of travel abroad, but also travel within the country is actively developing. People are increasingly becoming interested in the history of their people, they visit various historical and cultural places where you can have a cool and useful time. One of the features of the tourism business is high competition in this segment. In addition to large companies that organize travel, there are many intermediaries who, at the expense of a percentage of the cost of the tour, sell offers from major market players. The niche of tourism within the country is also slowly acquiring experienced players who offer many offers, and become the most competitive also in terms of price, so it is very difficult to promote local small business, but it is still quite possible, the main thing is to work no matter what.

The average family often makes about two vacation trips a year, one within the country and the other to warmer countries. This forms a serious market for services, since the client is ready to pay, but still he will choose based on the conditions of residence, travel, meals and other points that you can offer him. In this regard, a business in the field of tourism is primarily suitable for people who know how and can negotiate discounts on housing or free meals for clients. You should look for partners for permanent cooperation and constantly keep the brand on the service of serving your customers.

Before you start making money on tourism, it is important to understand the formats from which to start from scratch and where to grow in the future. So to get started, try selling your services over the Internet, it can be your own website or message boards. Rent a small office and contract with various tour operators. In the future, as the base of regular customers is formed, it will be possible to create your own tours, and offer already small intermediaries to resell your offers. As you can see, in order to open a tourism business, you can have a minimum start-up capital, the main thing is the ability to submit and negotiate. The entire reputation of your company will be based on customer reviews, they publish them on social networks and specialized sites for this. It is important that the majority of the reviews are positive, otherwise it will scare off many target customers. Monitor your online reputation and try to be recommended as one of the best travel destination companies.

Now let's take a look at what kinds of travel business ideas you can safely consider.

• Traveling abroad. Usually this is a format of tours by the sea, to warm countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Thailand. Or sightseeing tours across Europe, to Paris, Barcelona, ​​Amsterdam and other interesting cities that most vacationers want to visit.
• Excursions and recreation within the country. This can also include a seaside vacation or the premises of many historical sites.
• Leisure activities. First of all, these are ski resorts, and in the summertime these are trips by bicycles and ATVs.
• Ecotourism. This trend is gaining popularity. Its essence is to organize a recreation center in the forest near a lake or river and offer people trips to pick mushrooms, fishing, barbecue, a bathhouse and other options for outdoor recreation. Usually for this they buy a house in a village with a plot of land and gradually convert it into a full-fledged recreation center.

These are the four most popular formats on the market that can be sold in almost any city. In this section of the site, we have selected working business ideas for you in the tourism niche and tried to consider not only the theoretical part, but also give examples of calculating investments and profitability, so that in the future it would be easier for you to create your company business plan.

Tourism is developing in our country at a tremendous speed. This is a fairly lucrative industry that is ideal for where to start a travel business, and how to make it successful, you will learn in this article.

Business Registration

Tourist activity is not subject to licensing, it can be carried out by both legal entities and private entrepreneurs. Before starting a tourism business from scratch, you should complete all legal steps established by law.

The tour operator must have financial security or a bank guarantee: