Travel business.
Travel agencies in Russia
Development of tourism business in the country - trend 2014-2018
First steps in organization
Travel agency from scratch:
Features of the tourism business in Russia:
Who is a tour operator?
What is the amount of authorized capital for a travel agency?
Do you need a license for a travel agency to operate tourism?
Form of activity and taxes for a travel agency.
What holiday destinations for Russians are in demand?
What remuneration does the travel agency receive?
How much does a travel agency earn on average?
Legal documents regulating the activities of travel agencies.
How many Russians go abroad on vacation?
How to open a franchise travel agency in Russia?
Relationships between tour operators and travel agencies. Where does a travel agency buy tours?
Organization and management of tourism business.
Room
Equipment
Staff
Marketing:
Advertising - searching for clients
Sales of products
Financial plan:
Investments
Payback
No. 1 Domestic holidays, organization of holidays in your region
No. 2 Organization of exotic tours with an annual turnover of about 10,000,000 rubles
No. 3 Your own mini business, organizing youth recreation in your city
#4 How to make money without having travel agency?
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Travel business.
Travel agencies in Russia.
Today in Russia there are about 15,000 travel agencies operating in the tourism services market, of which 500 are the largest and about 2,500 are tour operators.
And the first travel agencies appeared in Russia in the late 80s and early 90s. After 1993, a boom in the development of the tourism business began, and new travel agencies appeared with a variety of offers. Many entrepreneurs see this direction as an unplowed field and quite light business. But the 1998 crisis put everything in its place, since most agencies simply did not survive the difficult time; these were, as a rule, those companies that sold their tours at dumping prices and did not accumulate financial reserves. Those who were able to survive troubled times are today the largest in Russia.
After 2000, the state’s economy began to recover and, along with this, the income of the population grew. In this regard, a new round of development occurred in the tourism business, and travel agencies of various formats began to reopen. But, despite more or less favorable times, about 40% of newly opened travel agencies continue to close without working and three years, this trend continues to this day. What are the reasons for this situation? And what are the main mistakes of new travel agencies? We will try to figure it out in our article.
Development of tourism business in the country - trend 2014-2018
Today there is no doubt that the trend of development of the tourism business within our country has already begun. In fact, huge amounts of money are being invested in the development of individual regions, which look very attractive from the point of view of tourism and recreation. This can be confirmed by the successfully held Olympics in Sochi 2014. The state, along with private investors, invested a large amount and in the construction of Olympic venues and the infrastructure of the entire surrounding area. After the Olympics, these attractions, advertised throughout the world, became accessible to ordinary people.
Also, immediately after the Olympics, due to a number of circumstances, Crimea and Sevastopol returned to Russia; these are excellent places for summer holidays, and as soon as the situation in Ukraine normalizes, a bridge will be built on the peninsula, then the main tourists will flock. By the way, the state has already launched a low-cost air flight from Moscow to Simferopol, it is called “Dobrolyot” and tickets there are 40% cheaper.
A sharp jump in patriotism for Lately will also undoubtedly have a beneficial effect on the development of tourism business within the country.
It is also worth mentioning the upcoming FIFA World Cup, which will be held in our country in 2018. By this time, the state promises to work on creating infrastructure in those cities where festive events dedicated to football will be held.
In Russia there are many destinations for tourism and recreation besides the south. In general, our country has everything: seas and rivers and mountains and steppes and taiga, and desert, etc. You can relax in Russia on the beach and at ski resorts and for educational and therapeutic purposes, active recreation, hunting, fishing, everything is there, but one problem that prevents all this from developing at the pace we would like is the infrastructure.
Within our country, the priority is recreation in cities, sanatorium and resort vacations, river tours, and tours along the Golden Ring. All this is happening in the central part of our country, the eastern regions are less in demand in this regard, but Putin invited our European friends to come to us in Siberia for firewood.
The leading travel agencies of our country call Moscow and St. Petersburg priority; it is believed that this is not a plowed field, since in these cities something new is constantly appearing that can attract tourists, as an example we can cite youth hotels - hostels in which youth gathers in large groups for parties, the price of accommodation in a hostel is much lower than in regular hotels, and the profit is made due to the large number of clients.
Also, in many regions they began to develop agricultural tourism; this type of recreation helps to plunge into the origins of one’s ancestors; this type of tourism does not require special investments. Agricultural or otherwise green tourism is already a feature of the tourism business in
Russia, we smoothly move on to the next topic.
First steps in organizing a travel agency from scratch:
Features of the tourism business in Russia.
Who is a tour operator?
A tour operator is a company that creates the service product itself in the tourism market. The tour operator interacts with hoteliers, carriers, and insurance companies. Large tour operators have buses and their own rooms in some hotels on their company's balance sheet. There are guides on staff who accompany you during your vacation. Simply put, the tour operator creates a wholesale product, while the travel agency handles retail sales.
What is the amount of authorized capital for a travel agency?
To open a travel agency authorized capital remains at the level of 10,000 rubles.
Do you need a license for a travel agency to operate tourism?
The license to provide tourism services was canceled in 2007. Today, a license is not required; only tour operators remain on the registry, who create the product itself, and the travel agency only sells it.
Form of activity and taxes for a travel agency.
It is definitely better to choose an LLC, since the client has more trust in companies than in individual entrepreneurs, and in the tourism business, client trust is the key to success.
Taxation for a travel agency today is only possible under the “simplified” system, but is offered in two options:
- Or 6% of income
- Or from the difference between income and expenses of 15%
It is better to choose the second option, since expenses can be written off for staff training, including trips to study tours, as well as heavy expenses for advertising.
What holiday destinations for Russians are in demand?
Today the situation on the market is not changing much; over the past 5 years the picture looks something like this:
What remuneration does the travel agency receive?
On average, the remuneration of large tour operators is 10%, and in general there are fluctuations in the market from 5% to 16%; this depends on how long the travel agency has been operating and how many tours it sells. The more sales, the higher the profit percentage. The tour operator recalculates the profit for each agency every six months.
How much does a travel agency earn on average?
It is customary to calculate the profit of a travel agency not in a month or even in six months, but once a year. The calculation of annual profitability is determined by the seasonality of this business.
On the Internet you can find all sorts of figures for the earnings of travel agencies from 200,000 to 3,000,000 rubles.
But here the question is different: “How many tours can you sell?”
Let’s say there are three of you working together - you and two managers. You want a salary of 30,000 rubles. per month, 2 managers 20,000 rubles each. + rent, telephone, internet 30,000 rubles per month, + advertising 5,000 rubles per month. (I do not count taxes, accountant services and other expenses)
As a result, per year you need: 1,260,000 rubles of expenses.
Let’s say the price of the average tour sold is 50,000 rubles, your reward is 10%, that is, 5,000 rubles.
Question: How many tours do you need to sell to earn at least 1,260,000 rubles a year?
Answer: 252 rounds. Based on the calculation, each of your managers should sell at least 126 tours per year!
Legal documents regulating the activities of travel agencies.
- When opening - KVED No. 53.30 - “Activities of travel agencies”.
- Tax reporting based on documents for a simplified taxation system
- Between a tour operator and a travel agency - agency agreement, commission agreement
How many Russians go abroad on vacation?
Over the course of several years, the number of Russians traveling abroad has been gradually increasing and today it is about 15 million trips per year. The Rosstourism website has all the data. Here, for example, is the top 50 table tourist countries with number of visits:
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How to open a franchise travel agency in Russia?
Opening your own travel agency as a franchise looks quite attractive, since today there is a sufficient choice of companies that are ready to sell their franchise at quite reasonable prices. Investments in a franchise business start from 250,000 rubles and end at around 600,000 rubles. By purchasing a franchise, you get a number of advantages over your competitors.Here are some of them that franchisors offer:
- Increased remuneration rate from tour operators
- Possibly territorial protection within your city or part of it
- It will be installed on your computers software franchisor
- The Frasher can regularly conduct advertising campaigns for the entire network
- Often the franchiser has a number like 8-800 with redistribution of calls to regions and receives calls around the clock, including from your clients
- You can be provided with legal and accounting assistance as part of your work
- The franchisor conducts training and advanced training courses for your managers
- You will have access to common base corporate documents, reports and knowledge
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But one should not assume that all franchisors are handing out franchises of their business left and right, they also have a number of their own requirements and visions of the business, and constantly monitor and monitor how you serve your clients. Because they are responsible for this with their prestige.
Frequent requirements from franchisors to entrepreneurs:
- Availability of an office on the 1st line of central streets
- Area of about 20 m2 with good repair, and sometimes with renovation in corporate style
- Possibly convenient parking
- A sign made in a certain way with specific design
- And others…
In our opinion, one way or another, before opening a travel agency, you need to consider everything possible options, including opening a franchise, even if you want to develop your own brand and, over time, also sell franchises for your business.
Relationships between tour operators and travel agencies. Where does a travel agency buy tours?
Today, there are more than 2,500 tour operators in Russia, and it must be said that not all of them have an impeccable reputation, so choosing a partner must be approached carefully.
First you need to visit the Rosstourism website, which has lists of tour operators with their data and, most importantly, capitalization; as a rule, the higher it is, the more reliable the partner.
You should also pay attention to how tour operators interact with your clients, whether they have their own guides, vehicles and possibly even hotel rooms. As a rule, conscientious tour operators work with trusted air carriers and insurance companies. At vacation spots they provide transportation, assign their guides to groups of tourists, through whom you can purchase excursions and consult on various issues of stay and accommodation. Among other things, guides work with tourists, inform them of important information, for example, about rescheduling a flight, this is very important!
Then it’s worth looking at the presence of representative offices of tour operators in your region; if there are any, this will facilitate further work on paperwork, for example, to obtain visas you will not need to send documents to the central office, everything can be done through the representative office.
The beginning of a relationship begins with the conclusion of an agreement, in in this case This is an agency agreement and a commission agreement under which you receive your percentage from the sale of tours, by the way this amount is about 10%.
Another important aspect of the relationship between travel agencies and tour operators, which has already happened in practice, is when entire planes were canceled or delayed flights or unpaid hotels, due to the tour operator’s dishonesty. And your clients will make claims against you because you sold them this tour. So you need to be careful when choosing your partners.
After concluding contracts, you are given the opportunity to access as an agent the database of all tours of specific tour operators. This access can be done either through the software or directly on the website. Through your Personal Area you will book tours for your clients. There are also sites on the Internet that present databases of all available tours from all tour operators; through such sites it is most convenient to compare prices.
Organization and management of tourism business.
The organization of a tourism business on the basis of a travel agency must be approached quite carefully and not lose sight of the main features of the business, in order not to make mistakes that lead to the unprofitability of the company and its subsequent closure, as we said above that about 40% of companies do not survive even three years . They fold during the off-season, when demand for travel decreases.Step-by-step scheme for opening a travel agency:
The zero stage is to choose the time to open a travel agency; it is best to open not long before the season in order to have time to carry out an advertising campaign and immediately start earning your first money. We will also include the creation of a website for a company here.
The first stage of organizing a business should be marketing research of your region and city. You must understand how many competitors you will have and what their characteristics are.
The second stage will be choosing a concept, that is, you can open a travel agency from scratch, or buy an existing business, or open a franchise.
The third stage will be searching for premises. This issue must be approached with all responsibility and not agree to the first options. Your profit depends on the location and convenience for the client.
The fourth stage is searching for partners and concluding contracts. This question concerns the choice of a tour operator, we discussed it above.
The fifth stage is the search for tour sales managers. This is also a very important point when opening a profitable travel agency. There are several options for resolving this issue, which are most often encountered.
The first option is to search for managers with work experience and an already established client base. This option helps you start already having a certain advantage, but requires an increase in labor costs.
The second option is to select managers without work experience who only have a desire to learn and earn money in the tourism business. This approach allows the manager to independently develop his own staff.
The third option will be mixed; it is hiring managers with and without experience. In this case, diversification of the wage fund occurs, which is also not a bad option.
The sixth stage is advertising. Carrying out advertising companies eats up quite a large part of the travel agency’s profit, in some cases reaching 40% of the company’s net income. But what can we do about advertising as the engine of trade? Read more about the behavior of advertising companies below.
Now that your travel agency is open, an advertising campaign has been carried out and the first clients have appeared, it’s time to talk about managing this business. As a leader, you must clearly understand your responsibilities!
Most often, people who decide to open a travel agency are those who have already worked for hire in a similar business and have learned the intricacies of this business, and these are, as a rule, former managers.
But do such managers have team management skills? Not always! And that’s why many sales people, when opening a travel agency, begin to focus on their own business as usual and from the very beginning they drive their business into a trap. In order to avoid making such mistakes, you should move some distance away from managers and try to see the work from the outside. You must understand what not a specific client wants, but the majority of clients in general.
The job of travel agencies is to sell a tour to the client as quickly as possible. Because in any city, operating travel agencies sell essentially the same tour and for approximately the same price. Those agencies that dump prices, as a rule, die in the off-season, and tour operators do not welcome this method of work. Therefore, managing a travel agency does not come down to controlling the client, but should control its managers so that they respond to requests as quickly as possible and offer not just one option, but several, trying to satisfy the client’s request. To do this, managers must constantly train and monitor the situation in the tourism market every day when they come to work. To be able to offer a good tour at the first request.
Next very important point is working with regular clients. A separate folder should be created for each client, where the maximum amount of information will be stored, including his relatives and his preferences. Let's say, there are people who do not change their habits and fly every year, for example, to Turkey in July, in this regard, why don’t we offer you a tour at a favorable price in advance, say, in May.
In addition to working with managers, your task will include planning, or in other words, strategic planning. Strategic planning is about making predictions about the future, how a situation will turn out, and how you will act. First, you should come up with questions for yourself that may arise in the course of your work and try to answer them, for example, what will our travel agency do in the off-season? How many tours do I plan to sell this year? And for the next one? What will I do if clients take me to court? What promotions and when will we hold? How much do we plan to spend on advertising this year?
For each such question, you must provide a clear answer, for example: “What to do if there is a law on mandatory authorized capital for travel agencies, say 2,000,000 rubles???” Answer: “Unite with people like our travel agency and chip in...”
All this is called business planning, which a tour sales manager may not know, but a travel agency manager should definitely know and be able to apply in practice.
Premises for a travel agency.
About the premises for a travel agency it was said in this article above and will be said even lower, in this section we will say that:
There are no special requirements for the office of a travel agency other than convenience for the client and aesthetic appearance.
The choice of premises comes down to:
- Reasonable price
- Location closer to the center
- Possibly human flows
- Availability of minimum amenities for staff
- Availability of telephone and Internet lines
In any case, when renting an office, even cosmetic repairs will be necessary, so you should set aside at least 50,000 rubles for this case.
Equipment for a travel agency.
After the repairs have been made and the premises are ready for work, equipment should be purchased.
The choice of equipment for a travel agency should be approached quite carefully; on the one hand, all equipment should be functional, on the other hand, it should please the eyes of your clients.
Main types of equipment for a small travel agency:
- Furniture.
- Office equipment.
- Advertising and information products.
- Office.
Furniture should be functional, comfortable and beautiful.
To open a small travel agency with a staff of 2 managers and a director, you will need:
Tables with stands - 3 pcs. 15,000 rubles each.
Chairs - 3 pieces (staff) for 7,000 rubles, 6 pieces (clients) for 3,000 rubles.
Sofa for clients - 1 pc. 25,000 rub.
Coffee table - 1 pc. 7,000 rub.
Styling - 1 piece. storage of advertising materials RUB 12,000.
Total for furniture: RUB 128,000.
Additionally, you can install an aquarium, which costs another 30,000 to 300,000 rubles.
Office equipment must be functional and fast.
Computer - 3 pcs. 30,000 rubles each.
Fax - 1 pc. 3000 rub.
Printer-scanner - 2 pcs. 5000 rub.
Telephone - 2 pcs. 1500 rub.
Total office equipment: RUB 106,000.
Additionally, you can install a projector or plasma TV, or at least an additional monitor for the convenience of presentations; this costs another 15,000 to 50,000 rubles.
Advertising and information products must be presented in sufficient volume; in the client’s opinion, the longer a travel agency operates, the more advertising products it has.
World map on the wall - 2000 rub.
Magazines catalogs - 20,000 rub.
Add. Waste paper - 5000 rub.
Total for advertising products: RUB 27,000.
We refer to the office: paper, pens, felt-tip pens, staplers, paper clips, folders, files, etc.
Office costs: about 10,000 rubles.
Additionally, you can purchase magnetic boards for the convenience of training or presentations within the company.
Also, do not forget about the shelves on which you will display small gifts that your satisfied clients brought you from tour trips.
The total for equipment without additional amenities: 271,000 rubles.
Staff for a travel agency.
The presence and number of personnel working in a travel agency can be very different. If you have a mini travel agency, then in the first few days you can organize all the processes yourself; over time, you will need to expand the staff in favor of tour package sales managers.
For an average travel agency, five people are enough, of which:
- The director is you
- Two managers - selling tours
- Accountant - reporting
- System administrator - website promotion
Of these people, only the director and managers can work permanently in the office; the rest can work remotely. This concept will help you save on office rent.
What are the requirements for travel agency staff?
It is impossible to name any special requirements, since it depends only on the desires of the manager, meaning the presence of higher education and work experience.
It is mandatory to have knowledge of your work, especially for accountants and system administrators.
Managers have a desire to work, develop and earn money. Another common requirement for managers from employers is to have a pleasant appearance and charm.
First of all, managers and tour sales managers should be trained in the tourism business. What do you need to know?
For managers:
- Strategic planning
- Reporting
- Monitoring the work of managers
- Interaction with competitors
- Working with partners
- Work to attract and retain clients
For managers:
- Tourism market research
- Search and selection of tours
- Preparation of tour packages
- Reporting
- Selling tours by phone
- Sale of tours in the office during a personal meeting
You can get good training by opening a franchise travel agency; this topic was discussed a little higher. Part of the necessary training can be obtained by communicating directly with hoteliers and guides via the Internet. Good experience can be obtained from communication with clients after the trip. Obtaining information for training also has a rather creative approach, like the whole business as a whole.
Marketing.
Travel agency advertisement.
Travel agency advertising is one of the most complex and interesting species advertising and in this business, like in no other, advertising is the real engine of trade.
Travel agency promotion is a creative approach to advertising companies. It is mandatory to create advertising that encourages potential customers to relax. Advertising must be bright and memorable!
The first thing a modern travel agency needs is to create its own website and pages in in social networks and in this matter the format of your business does not matter, in the sense of small or medium. Advertising on the Internet is mandatory for all travel agencies.
Today's realities require a modern website that presents ready-made offers in your areas of interest. There should be a section for searching and selecting tours with the possibility of booking via the Internet and various payment options, including payment for electronic money.
Don’t forget that your website should be constantly updated, providing information of interest to potential customers. It’s also a good idea to have a section with photo reports and stories of your clients who went on vacation through your travel agency; this also indicates that you need to interact and work with clients even after they return from vacation.
The site must have a registration section for users. After registration, a person automatically becomes your potential client, leaving his data for you; in return, you must provide him with some exclusive information that will not be available to anonymous visitors. This may be the opportunity to leave comments on photographs and articles, or access to the ability to download information, for example, a printed guide, tourist information, maps, routes, etc.
It is possible to create a website and forum dedicated to recreation and travel on the basis of it. But it’s worth mentioning that to develop the forum you will need funds from 100,000 rubles, but you will get a lot of potentially interested clients with their registration data.
Many leading travel agencies have been able to create entire social networks based on their websites, in which not only clients are registered, but also hotels, other travel agencies and even large tour operators, as well as many other various companies and individuals who, one way or another, are involved in the tourism business. Association in social networks helps to create convenience and the necessary atmosphere for the development of tourism business and, of course, provide greater profits to its creator.
Promoting a travel agency website on the Internet:
- Registration on forums and message boards
- Creation and development of pages on social networks
- Blogging and microblogging
- Constant updating and adding new articles to the site itself
- Ordering contextual advertising - Yandex Direct, Google Adwords
- Promotion through crowded places - YaP, etc.
- Conducting free newsletters from your website - Subscribe, etc.
- Advertising on women's thematic forums also works well, since women are more interested in and choose a place to relax than men.
The second very important thing is to promote your travel agency offline; practically any type of advertising is also suitable for this.
Newspapers, radio, television will also work, but subject to a number of conditions. The main thing is to provide important, interesting and necessary information.
In a newspaper, it is better to order a whole narrative article with your contacts inside it; there must be a headline that arouses the reader’s interest, for example, How to visit Turkey for 10,000 rubles? What awaits tourists in 2014 in Spain? Interesting places in Europe - top 10, etc.
On the radio, advertising needs to be creative and memorable; in a short video, you need to interest the listener as much as possible. The question-answer format works well for radio; this is when the question is: “Is it possible to get into the Louvre without queuing?”, the answer: “the travel agency “name” knows how! Contacts, France in your pocket!!!”
Advertising on television today is an expensive format and it will be difficult for a beginning travel agency to allocate such a budget. With television, it is best to start on the scale of local TV channels, within your city.
Creative people will almost always find the best way out of this rather complex issue - advertising for a travel agency. One of my friends, a girl who has been involved in the tourism business quite successfully for 5 years, ordered the production of refrigerator magnets with an image of the sea and an island with a palm tree, of course, not forgetting to write the name of her company on top and her website below.
She distributed these magnets by delivering mail to apartments. And I can tell you that such a publicity stunt brought her many new clients. I myself have personally seen her magnets hanging on the refrigerator at my friends’ houses.
Here is an example of a creative approach to advertising a travel agency, in which the minimum investment is no more than 20,000 rubles, and the return is maximum.
Comparing clients who come from advertising on the Internet and advertising from offline, we can say the following: clients coming from newspaper, radio and television advertising ask the same question: “What can you offer me, and what do you have?” Clients coming from the site are already more aware of the tours you offer and are focused on choosing between several. This makes the work of managers easier, and we can say with confidence that the conversion of people coming from the Internet will be higher.
Choosing a name for your travel agency.
The name of the travel agency should be approached very carefully and come up with at least 50 names. From all this you need to choose the most consonant and memorable!
Here are some examples:
- Rus-tour
- Ali Baba - tour
- Infiniti - tour
- Luxury tour
- Gambit - tour
- To Berlin
- Three whales
- Seven seas
- Three continents
- Atlantis
- Heat tour
- Euro-tur
You can come up with a lot of names, but try to choose one that can speak about the tours you provide, taking into account future development. And perhaps, in addition to a catchy name, make it a little humorous.
Sales of products.
How is the tour sold?
The classic tour sales scheme looks like this:
- The client sees the advertisement
- Call to the office
- Manager's job
- Office visit
- Manager's job
- Purchasing a service
Online tour sales scheme:
- Search or advertising or recommendation from friends
- Visiting the site and choosing a tour
- Tour payment
- Obtaining travel documents
But no matter what the tour sales chain is, advertising will still be in the first place, so we can definitely say that the sale of tourism business products will completely depend on advertising.
When writing a business plan in this section, you should pay attention to retaining and developing regular customers and spreading word of mouth.
It is clear that in order to ensure maximum sales of our tours, we need to have regular customers who form the key core of our business.
To ensure high sales of products, some travel agencies create their own non-standard tour packages. A tour package is a set of components necessary for travel.
What is a standard tour package?
The standard tour package includes: visa (if required), honey. insurance, air travel (round trip), transfer to place of residence, hotel room, meals.
What is a non-standard tour package?
A non-standard tour package differs from a standard one in that it includes additional services, such as excursions and additional services. Maybe creating a tour package to visit several countries at once in one trip.
In general, in order to sell your service, you can come up with a truly non-standard tour package and thereby arouse greater interest from clients. Everything here will depend on your creativity.
How can a travel agency find and retain regular customers?
Regular clients are people whose needs are fully satisfied by your travel agency.
The search for a client should be carried out by a marketer, and the retention by a manager.
- First of all, the client should be attracted by advertising,
- secondly, the charm of your manager,
- in the third tour price,
- to the fourth round itself
At the same time, at all stages, your manager should interact with the client, but this does not mean being intrusive.
You need to communicate with the client and after he returns from the trip, this will help to retain the client, you need to be able to be, if not a friend, then at least a comrade, and then you will undoubtedly gain many regular clients.
In the tourism business there is such an expression as a deadline - this applies to the sale of last-minute tours as it should be, since your client will have a certain amount of time during which he must decide to purchase a travel tour.
Don’t forget about promotions and bonuses for regular customers, and hoteliers will help you with this. Many hotels offer promotions; upon a repeat visit, the client is given a better room.
Discounts also necessary tool. The discount may apply when you contact your travel agency again, or as part of the ongoing promotion - bring a friend. There are also systems of cumulative discounts; the more trips, the greater the discount.
You can also provide your discounts to clients who help promote your travel agency on social networks, write articles on forums and other sites, register and post their reports, including photo reports mentioning your company.
There is another example profitable discovery travel agency with a promotion to attract the first clients in a new residential neighborhood. Firstly, this approach helps to save on office rent, cheaper than in the center. Secondly, there is no or almost no competition.
Having opened the above-mentioned travel agency, its creators began to think about attracting clients. We decided to hold the “International passport without a queue” campaign, that is, we took upon ourselves the entire process of obtaining international passports for the population. And what do you think, there were quite a lot of people willing. Yes, even if such an action is quite stressful and requires additional personnel, but with competent work of managers, the return can be up to 40% or even more. Let's say you help 3,000 people for free, but sell 1,000 tours, in my opinion, not bad.
Financial plan.
Drawing up a financial plan is a prerequisite for starting any business. Standard financial plan includes calculations for estimated initial investments and assumptions for the return on investment of the project with projected profits.
Investments.
Investments in a travel agency are quite small, and therefore this business attracts many entrepreneurs. Let's try and calculate the initial investment in a small travel agency.
We will calculate investments for a quarter, that is, the next three months of work. In the future, all expense items are planned to be paid from the profits received.
We will divide all investments into four parts:
- Renting premises
- Purchase of equipment
- Payroll fund
- Marketing activities and advertising
Rent of premises for a travel company - a premises with an area of 35 sq.m. was found. With repairs already made, at a rental rate of 400 rubles. for 1 sq.m. For a month it comes out to 14,000 rubles. + internet, telephone 3000 rub. For the quarter 51,000 rubles.
Purchase of equipment - above we calculated the minimum set required for a small travel agency, its cost was 271,000 rubles.
Payroll - in our small travel agency five people will work together with the manager, of which the manager himself will have a salary of 30,000 rubles. will work in the office and two managers with a salary of 20,000 rubles. + a percentage of the sales of tours will also be located in the office. An accountant and a system administrator will work remotely with a salary of 20,000 rubles.
The total wage fund for the quarter is: 330,000 rubles.
As a result, our investment in opening a small travel agency amounted to 752,000 rubles.
If you take the minimum and count on instant returns from the business, meaning immediately after the first month of work, then you can keep it to 388,000 rubles. By the way, in calculating the payback of a business, we will use exactly this figure, since the business should begin to at least somehow pay for itself from the first month of operation.
Payback.
To calculate the payback of a business, we will use the estimated sales figure for travel packages, as well as use the amount of the average check.
So, we plan to attract our main clients from advertising campaigns, based on the response rate we plan to be 0.8% out of 1000 people - 8 will order a tour, respectively, than more money will be spent on advertising, the more clients we will get.
Combining these data into calculations, we forecast customer acquisition at 600 per year. Based on these figures, we set a standard for managers of 220 sold tours per year; if a manager sells more, he receives an annual bonus; if he sells more, he receives more.
Next, the price for the average tour we sell is 50,000 rubles, we receive a 10% commission, respectively, the average bill is 5,000 rubles.
Annual expenses:
Rent + internet, telephone - 204,000 rubles
Payroll fund - 1,320,000 rubles
Advertising - 470,000 rubles
Result: 1,994,000 rubles
Annual income:
220 tours x2 = 440 tours multiplied by the average bill of 5,000 rubles. = 2,200,000 rubles
Available funds at the end of the year: 2,200,000-1,994,000= 206,000 rubles.
The payback of the travel agency should occur in the first year of existence, while at the end of the year additional profit should be generated, which will be spent on advertising and the payment of bonuses, so that in the second year of operation the profit will increase.
Startups in the tourism business (examples):
No. 1 Domestic holidays, organization of holidays in your area.
Organizing recreation and tourism in your own region is suitable for almost any resident of our country. To do this, you need to show curiosity and activity. Any region has many of its own attractions that other people want to see. The main thing is to present such a service correctly.
First you need to get a camera, learn how to beautiful photos. With ingenuity and observation, you can come up with a good list of the most beautiful places your region and region. After that, use the Internet to advertise yourself. We will do advertising for the startup by creating our own blog, forums, portals and of course social networks on the following topics: tourism, recreation, photography, attractions, culture, art, etc.
We post the accumulated materials on the Internet under our own authorship and with our own coordinates, while offering our services for organizing, meeting, accompanying and accommodating everyone.
At the right approach, investments in such a startup are zero, and an income of 30,000 rubles per month is guaranteed. Here is your first example of a tourism business from scratch!
No. 2 Organization of exotic tours with an annual turnover of about 10,000,000 rubles.
Today, the tourism services market is represented not only by the main holiday destinations. Many people are already tired of this and want to relax individual program, say, to go where no one or few people have been. As they say, demand creates supply, so there are travel companies that specialize in exotic destinations, creating individual routes. By the way, the price of an exotic vacation has already added $10,000. Per tour and this is quite reasonable!
For example, how many people have conquered Elbrus? No! Do you think there are many people who want to do this? There are many and their number is increasing every year! The cost of such an ascent is about $20,000. And there are travel agencies that every year gather several groups of exotic vacation lovers (a total of only 20 people per year!!!) and make ascents.
We calculate: 20 (people) multiplied by 20,000 dollars (price per person), we get 400,000 dollars, which translated into rubles is about 14,000,000 rubles.
And for a startup, you can come up with a lot of such exotic tours in completely different directions and preferences, from relaxation to sports and extreme sports.
No. 3 Your own mini business, organizing youth recreation in your city.
One of my acquaintances, a regular at city clubs and parties, began his travel business without even knowing it. Many regular party-goers are familiar with the phrase that there are the same people in the club. This situation prompted him to meet people from other cities on the Internet and invite them to parties in his city. When the question of accommodation arose, he began to offer the second room of his apartment for rent. He charges 500 rubles per person; according to him, he never had less than 20,000 rubles per month just for renting out a room.
Also in big cities there are mini hotels - youth hostels where many young people come to relax and hang out, find new friends and have a good time. A friend of mine also accommodates groups of young people in such hotels. He cooperates with the hostel management for a percentage.
Recently, people often come to the clubs of our city famous personalities with their concerts, which many fans and admirers want to go to, but some uncertainty of where to go, where to sleep, etc. interferes.
This is where ingenuity comes in! In social networking groups, an acquaintance publishes posters about the upcoming event and offers his services as a “guide” - all inclusive. There are plenty of people willing!
For these purposes, he books apartments in advance that are rented out for a day, you know those? Such an apartment costs 1,500 rubles per day. He accommodates six people in them and over the weekend, from such an apartment alone he earns 3,000 rubles into his pocket.
In the future, he dreams of building a house for 20 people, so that in just two weekends he can earn 20,000 rubles.
No. 4 How to make money without having a travel agency?
Today, you can start your own startup and make money in the tourism business by selling tours and vouchers even without having your own company or even registering as an individual entrepreneur. There are travel agency websites that offer ordinary individuals work on their behalf. After registration you will be given access to their database of tours.
Why is this beneficial for travel agencies?
Travel agencies receive a commission from the tour operator from the sale of the tour and the more tours they sell, the higher the commission will be. By attracting individuals, a travel agency increases its sales.
Why is this beneficial to you?
Working in such a scheme, you get the opportunity to engage in the tourism business of selling tours without leaving your home. You also receive large commissions by working under the wing of a travel agency; today they are willing to pay about 35% of their profits. That is, let’s say a travel agency earns 10% from the sale of each tour; let’s take the average profit from one tour as 5,000 rubles. From 5,000 rubles you are paid 35%. We receive 1,750 rubles in profit from one tour.
To earn about 20,000 rubles per month you need to sell about 12 tours.
The advantages of such a business are obvious; you can start mastering the tourism business today without investing money in opening your own company. You don't risk anything!
First you need to create pages on social networks, perhaps your own website, and start promoting on the Internet. Start with your friends and acquaintances. Gain your first invaluable experience with minimal investment in the tourism business.
In conclusion of our article on the tourism business, I would like to say that to this day, opening a travel agency remains a fairly profitable business; the main thing is to choose the right format to start. Good luck!
* The calculations use average data for Russia
A fragment of the book by Yulia and Georgy Mokhov “Travel Agency: where to start, how to succeed” by the publishing house “Peter. Published with permission from the publisher
Do I have enough money to open a travel agency? Should I risk my last savings or not? How long will it take for investments in the tourism business to pay off? How much will I earn? Create your own travel agency or buy a ready-made one? Or join a franchise network? Is it difficult to make a business plan for a travel agency? What are the requirements for a travel agency office? How many employees will you have to hire? Where to look for footage? Which tour operators to work with? Which countries do you sell tours to? Limit yourself to a narrow specialization or sell everything? Should we open air and railway ticket offices immediately or later? How to attract clients? How much to spend on advertising? Do tourists have many complaints? And still…
SHOULD I OPEN A TRAVEL AGENCY OR NOT?!
We will try to dispel all your fears and support your desire to open a travel agency. But we guarantee: everything that is written here is a real reflection of the state of affairs in the tourism business, without exaggeration or omission.
Development of a business plan for a travel company.
We offer for your reference a diagram that reflects the main parameters and cost items that can be used when drawing up a business plan for a travel company (agency).
1. Travel agency concept
Kind of activity:
- travel agent;
- tour operator;
- mixed activity.
- sale of air and railway tickets;
- transfer services, ordering limousines;
- visa processing;
- insurance;
- preparation of documents for registration of foreign passports;
- services of an individual guide and accompanying person;
- translation services;
- sale of guidebooks;
- sale of related travel products;
- implementation gift certificates;
- booking and ordering tables in restaurants, tickets for events;
- rental of tourist equipment;
- Car rent.
- by type of tourist destination;
- according to the cost of tours;
- by country;
- by type of tourism.
2. Organizational plan
Travel agency office location:
- center;
- outskirts;
- distance from the metro.
- rent;
- own premises;
- other.
- showcase office on the first line;
- in the business center;
- in the administrative office building;
- V mall;
- on the first floor of a residential building.
- two jobs, three five jobs;
- one-room, two-room, three-room, more than three rooms;
- free layout (number of meters).
tables with reception places, chairs for employees, chairs for visitors, bedside tables with keys, rack for catalogues, wardrobe, hangers, hanger rack,
board for information and special offers, sofa for visitors, coffee table, safe, blinds, mirror, dishes (for employees, for receiving visitors), frames for photographs and permits, plants.
Office equipment (cost calculation):
computers, telephones, fax, printers (minimum 2 pieces), scanner, copier, TV, CD and DVD player for showing films about countries and resorts, air conditioning, water cooler, first aid kit, watch, stationery, wall map of the world or globe.
Office design project:
- zoning of space;
- design of the premises according to the concept of the travel company;
- floor plan.
3. Competitive environment
Competitors in selected tourist destinations.
Competitors within the radius:
Ready ideas for your business
- building;
- district;
- cities;
- countries (if necessary).
4. Production plan
Staff:
- staffing table;
- wage formation policy;
- training.
Tour sales technology:
- search and booking of tours;
- scheme of interaction with partners;
- processing payment for tours;
- document flow;
- delivery and issuance of documents.
- by season;
- by directions;
- by country;
- by price;
- by target audience.
Travel agency pricing policy.
Features of the tours sold.
Corporate identity development:
- contractor;
- list of required items;
- concept and functions of the site;
- contractor;
- cost and timing of work.
- signboard;
- pillar;
- signs;
- a sign with operating hours and company details.
- booklet;
- Business Cards;
- letterheads.
- budget size for 3 months, 6 months, 12 months;
- advertising media.
6. Legal aspects of opening a travel company
Legal form of a legal entity.
Tax system.
Drawing up a lease agreement.
Required permits depending on the type of tourism activity.
Trademark registration.
Purchase and registration of cash register equipment (if necessary).
Ordering strict reporting forms “Tourist voucher”.
Maintaining accounting records (independently, with the assistance of an accountant, consulting company).
Legal support of activities
7. Financial plan
Sources of funds.
Amount and duration of investment.
Initial expenses plan.
Fixed expenses plan.
Income plan.
Payback plan.
8. Conclusion
Long-term development plan.
9.Applications
Approximate costs for creating a travel agency in Moscow,
one-time:
Registration of a legal entity and preparation of necessary permits for travel agency activities: 20,000–25,000
Furniture and office preparation for sales: 50,000–100,000
Office equipment and communications 100,000–150,000
Development of corporate identity 15,000–25,000
Website development and registration 20,000–45,000
Trademark registration 50,000-100,000
Employee training 5,000–30,000
Additional possible costs
Ready ideas for your business
- Purchase of a ready-made tourism business, payment of legal services to support the transaction
- Payment for premises selection services
- Payment for recruitment services
- Payment for connection services
- Internet and additional telephone lines
- Payment for services of a consulting company
The cost of tours even in the same hotel category is different, and the choice of tourists does not always fall on the 3* level of accommodation. Therefore, in order to make an income plan, it is necessary to analyze season prices for selected destinations with data from 3*, 4*, 5* hotels and compare them with the expected amount of income
Approximate plan of monthly expenses of a travel company in Moscow (rub.)
Office and infrastructure
Wage
Rent of premises 25 m2 - 50,000
Communication services 3000
Internet 5000
Water (cooler) 500
Stationery 2500
Other administrative expenses 6000 Staff salaries
Advertising budget
- Director 35,000 +%
- Manager 19,000 +%
- Manager 16,000 +%
- Secretary-manager 12,000 +%
- Courier 16,000
- Accountant (outsourcing) 10,000
- Cleaning lady 3000
Unforeseen expenses RUB 10,000.
- Legal subscription service RUB 7,000. months
- Payment for the online booking and tour search system is 1200 rubles/month.
- Refilling cartridges 400 rub./month.
Total 241,500 rub. + percentage of salary
Selecting the status of a travel company. Tour operator or travel agent?
After the abolition of licensing for tour operator and travel agency activities in 2007, mandatory public order established only for tour operator activities. Any legal entity or individual entrepreneur can engage in travel agency activities. The only thing that determines the status of a travel agent today is the existence of an agreement with the tour operator, according to which the travel agent, on behalf of and at the expense of the tour operator, sells the tourism product generated by the tour operator. At the same time, the travel agent is obliged to comply with a number of requirements established by law, which we will discuss below.
But first of all, it is necessary to find out why it is so important to understand the difference between travel agency activities and tour operators and take the necessary legal actions in a timely manner. The fact is that the law establishes a mandatory requirement - all tour operators registered on the territory of the Russian Federation are required to have financial support. Financial security is a guarantee of the tour operator in case of non-fulfillment or improper execution contracts for the sale of a tour product, insurance of its civil liability to consumer tourists.
From funds financial security injured tourists are compensated for the actual damage they suffered, for example, the cost of the tour if it did not take place, or the difference in cost if the vacation time was reduced. Financial support is provided Insurance Company or banker. The law establishes the minimum amount for which an insurance contract or a bank guarantee contract must be concluded; today it is 10,000,000 rubles. for international tourism (entry and exit) and 500,000 rubles. for domestic tourism.
The cost of servicing financial security averages 1–1.5% per year of the amount of security.
Ready ideas for your business
For example, from the minimum amount of financial support for international tourism of 10,000,000 rubles. the cost of insurance compensation will be 100,000–150,000 rubles. This is the amount that will need to be paid annually to the insurance company for the tour operator’s civil liability insurance contract.
The contractual scheme of a travel agent’s work when selling tours looks something like this:
- the tour operator enters into an agency (commission) agreement with the travel agent, according to which the agent is instructed to implement (sell) tours generated by the tour operator for a fee;
- a travel agent attracts a client (tourist) and enters into an agreement with him on the sale of a tourism product, receives the documents necessary to register the tour;
- the travel agent sends a request to the tour operator to book specific travel services for the client (tourist), indicating the dates, number and details of tourists, hotel, level of transportation, excursions and other components of the tour;
- the tour operator confirms the travel agent’s request and issues an invoice for payment;
- the travel agent provides the tour operator with the documents (or information) necessary to process the tour (for example, for a visa);
- the travel agent accepts the final payment from the tourist (if paying in cash, issues a cash receipt or a strict reporting form);
- the travel agent makes payment to the tour operator minus the remuneration due to him (by bank transfer or in cash to the tour operator's cash desk);
- the tour operator issues the travel agent with tour documents necessary for the tourist to travel;
- the travel agent issues the tourist documents for the tour and all the necessary information to the tourist;
- the travel agent reports to the tour operator - sends the agent’s report (act) indicating the amount of the tour sale and the amount of remuneration;
- the tour operator signs the agent's report and issues an invoice for the services provided under the agency agreement.
But it should be taken into account that the presented diagram reflects only perfect option document flow.
In practice, a travel agent may face various surprises; firstly, the tour operator may refuse to enter into an agency agreement with you and will offer a purchase and sale agreement, as a result your legal status will change, it will be necessary to adapt accounting and document flow;
secondly, when making a payment under a tour operator agreement, you suddenly discover that the invoice has been issued for payment to
another company or, making payment through the tour operator’s cash desk, you will be given a receipt cash order to physical
a person with a “paid” stamp without the organization’s seal.
Travel company staff
The optimal staff for a small travel company looks something like this:
- ¦ leader;
- ¦ manager1;
- ¦ manager2;
- ¦ secretary with an expanded range of responsibilities;
- ¦ courier;
- ¦ accountant and cashier;
- ¦ cleaning lady.
Director.
The head of the travel company is a key figure and decides a large number of issues, both economic and strategic, but in addition to this, it is advisable to have at least two sales managers.
The manager can also be the chief accountant, cashier, sign documents and register the receipt of funds.
If the head of a travel agency is a hired employee, he must have at least two years of work experience; this is the minimum time during which a specialist can go through all the “seasons” of a travel agency’s work - high, low, “dead” - and learn how to manage a company. If the head - founder of a travel agency has no experience in tourism, this is not a tragedy. It is necessary to invite managers with work experience and, together with them, develop the strategy, assortment, and advertising policy of the company.
Travel company manager.
His responsibilities include: negotiating with clients and partners by phone and in the office, arranging tours with tourists, booking tours and processing documents with tour operators, monitoring the fulfillment of orders, price changes, requirements for documents provided, terms of cooperation, special offers.
A universal manager must maintain and improve his qualifications (master classes, seminars, promotional tours), work at exhibitions and workshops. Requirements for managers: higher education, experience in tourism, absence of bad habits, presentable appearance, competent Russian speech, sociability, initiative, ability to decide conflict situations, responsibility.
A manager without work experience should at least strive to work in tourism and have a specialized secondary or higher (incomplete higher) education, since this significantly affects the general level of culture. On
teaching someone who strives for knowledge is a rewarding task, but find out the long-term plans of this candidate so that
the invested effort and money were not wasted - perhaps he will use the knowledge gained in another travel agency.
Travel agency secretary
receives incoming calls, distributes them according to the specialization of managers, answers questions general(“How can I get to you?”, “What time do you work until?”), ensures timely ordering of necessary office supplies, household goods, monitors the courier’s work schedule, carries out instructions from the manager, receives visitors and guests of the office. You must understand that sometimes it is very difficult to do without the help of a secretary, especially in the high season - in the summer, when the phone is ringing at the same time and the client is sitting in the chair.
Secretaries are also tasked with filling out questionnaires, recording and registering incoming and outgoing mail, and responding to corporate emails, ICQ, and Skype.
As a rule, a secretary is hired after several months of starting a travel company, when the phone is constantly ringing and clients demanding attention come to the office.
Courier
A very important and responsible position. With the strength (legs) of this person, money, passports, documents must get to the tour operator. Therefore, when choosing a candidate for this position, follow a simple rule: the person must be checked by everyone possible ways- call your previous place of work, confirm the correspondence of your place of registration and place of residence, call your home phone and communicate with relatives, and ask for recommendations. These measures are not unnecessary. The problems that may arise due to the actions of the courier are, without exaggeration, catastrophic - loss of foreign passports and documents, theft of funds that the courier transports daily. The best option is a relative or acquaintance, but, unfortunately, such candidates are not always found.
Accountant-cashier,
undoubtedly, necessary specialist, but the cost of its services is too high for a small travel agency (in Moscow from 30,000 rubles). Therefore, most travel agencies use the services of law firms or an external accountant. Such a personnel solution allows you to reduce accounting costs by at least three times.
Remuneration and bonus schemes in the tourism business
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.
Options for calculating salaries for a tourism manager
The tour is considered sold when 100% payment is made.
1. Interest-free system: salary 22,000–30,000 rub.
2. Salary + interest:
Salary 10,000–15,000 rub. + 10% of tours sold by the manager.
Salary 15,000 + 10% after the implementation of tours for more than 150,000 rubles.
Salary 15,000 + 10% of revenue from sold tours, divided among all managers.
Salary 18,000–20,000 rub. + 5% of tours sold by the manager.
Salary 18,000–20,000 rub. + 10% of all tours sold, divided between all managers.
3. Planned system: fixed salary is paid when the plan is fulfilled; for example, from 50,000 rub. (this refers to the company's income, not the total cost of the tours). If the plan is exceeded by more than 50,000 rubles. + 10%, more than 100,000 rub. + 15%, over 250,000 + 20%.
During the low season (January, February, May, June) the plan is 50%. In this case, the previous fixed salary is paid.
If the plan is not met, with the exception of the low season, there is a system of fines:
- ¦ the first month - no penalties, an analysis of the reasons associated with the decrease in sales is required;
- ¦ second month and beyond: 40,000–49,000 rubles. – 10% is withheld from the fixed payment (30,000–39,000 rubles – 20%; 20,000–29,000 rubles – 30%).
In the first months after the opening of a travel agency office, a planned payroll system, as a rule, is not used.
Options for calculating wages for a travel company courier
1. Salary 12,000–15,000 rubles, payment for a travel ticket, mobile phone, working hours: Monday-Friday.
2. Salary 15,000–20,000 rubles, payment for a travel ticket, mobile phone, working hours: Monday - Saturday.
During the high season and increased sales volumes, it is customary to give couriers a bonus of 20–30% of their salary. The courier is an important employee of the travel agency, so it is better to pay extra on time, issue bonuses and work calmly.
On the market you can find offers from courier companies that deliver documents anywhere
city, they enter into a formal agreement and bear full financial responsibility for the funds and documents in the parcel.
Options for calculating the salary of a director of a travel company
1. Salary from 40,000 rubles.
2. Salary 18,000–20,000 rub. + 1–5% of monthly income
agency after deducting expenses.
3. 12,000–15,000 rub. + 5–10% of monthly income after deducting expenses.
Last year, more than 50 million Russian tourists traveled around the country and the world. Compared to 2016, outbound tourism has grown by almost a third; many new destinations and routes have been opened in the domestic market. Many aspiring entrepreneurs are interested in where to start a tourism business and how to open an agency from scratch? How much money do you need to invest in the enterprise? How to register? The answers to these questions are in our article.
How to open a tour desk
Pros: This direction requires virtually no investment. Even a student can try himself as a tour guide if he knows the sights of the city, tells interesting stories and easily finds mutual language with different people.
Minuses: short season. There are much fewer tourists in winter.
Step 1. Choose a route
It is necessary to carefully consider excursion routes: take tourists around the city or organize off-site excursions. Choose a theme for city routes. For example, “Temples and monasteries”, “Beauty of the city at night”, “Historical places”, etc. Car owners organize individual tours around the city and surrounding area.
In order to open a travel company from scratch and conduct field trips, it is not necessary to buy a bus. Enter into an agreement with the local bus fleet, they will provide transport at the start of the excursion.
In addition to excursions, the entrepreneur conducts hiking trips, takes vacationers fishing or to mushroom and berry places.
Step 2. Organize a company
If you don’t want to get into trouble with the tax authorities, it’s better to immediately open an individual entrepreneur and register with the Federal Tax Service and the Pension Fund.
Next, you have two options: keep your books and submit reports to the tax office yourself, or hire a specialized one. There is quite a wide choice on the market - from single accountants to large holdings. When choosing, you need to focus on the range of services, guarantees and customer reviews. It’s better to contact reliable companies, for example. The cost of such services can be viewed
Develop a price. The cost of tourism business services differs from the route and additional services. If you organize an hour-long walking tour, then its price starts from 150 rubles per person; if a bus trip includes visiting museums, the price will be over 1000 rubles. But part of the profit must be paid for renting buses and tickets to the museum.
As long as you work without assistants, you don’t need an office. Applications are accepted through social networks or a personal website.
Prepare a package of documents:
- Contract for services.
- Reminder for tourists.
- Description of the route.
Step 3. Calculate investments and payback
The minimum investment is 800 rubles for the state fee when registering an individual entrepreneur. The rest depends on the budget: spend money on contextual advertising or promote services for free; rent an office or work from home; buy a car for individual excursions or organize walking routes.
It is beneficial to develop a route and offer it to a travel agency. The company attracts clients, and you only guide the groups along the route.
After you have opened a mini-travel agency, you can calculate your profits. The price of a walking tour is 150 rubles, the average group is 20 people. Income per hour of work is 3000 rubles. You can conduct 3–5 excursions per day and earn up to 15,000.
How to open a travel agency from scratch as a franchise
Pros: promoted brand and ready business plan. Anyone can open it without experience in the travel industry and without knowledge of how to open a travel agency from scratch. The entrepreneur receives from the franchisor partner a ready-made scheme for the company’s operation and assistance during launch.
Minuses: additional expenses for lump sum and royalties.
Step 1. Choose a franchise
There are many dummy franchises offered online, so choose your partner carefully.
The selection criteria are presented below.
How long has the company been on the market? Newcomers do not guarantee the viability of the franchise, since they themselves have just opened. To start a tourism business in Russia, it is better to choose a brand that has existed for more than 5 years.
- How many franchise companies have been open and for how long? If the network is developed and franchisees have been working for at least 1 year, you can count on success.
- How much does a franchise cost? The seller usually only names the lump sum fee and royalty. You need to ask what other expenses are ahead and in what amount.
- What support does the franchisor promise? If you don’t know how to open a travel agency from scratch on your own, it’s better to get support for the first 2-3 years.
More than 7.5 million tourists visit St. Petersburg annually
Who among us would not like to see the world and visit the most remote and exotic corners of the earth? The love of travel is not alien to anyone. This is probably why, even in the most economically unstable times, most people still had the opportunity and financial means for a long-awaited trip. Thanks to this, you can organize for yourself a reliable and very profitable way of earning money - opening a travel agency from scratch. We will tell you how to do this further, providing step-by-step instructions with useful tips.
Where to begin?
The significant advantages of the type of business associated with tourism are relatively low investments, as well as the absence of the need for special education. Thanks to the fact that you won't need to receive special permits, you can avoid many of the barriers to opening a travel agency. However, it is worth noting that competition in this area is still quite high, and the profit you will receive depends on the economic situation in the country. Nevertheless, opening a travel agency from scratch even during the period economic crisis is quite real.
In order to understand in detail the legal side of the issue, you should refer to Law No. 132-FZ of November 24, 1996 “On the fundamentals of tourism activities in the Russian Federation.” Depending on the specifics of your activity, external and internal tourism differ. Services related to this industry are provided by tour operators and travel agents. Let us consider in more detail how these concepts differ.
The responsibilities of tour operators include independent development, promotion and subsequent implementation of tours. Thus, using its services, a tourist can reach his destination and return home safely without experiencing any inconvenience during the trip. That is why in order to open professional activity They will be required to have insurance or a guarantee from the bank. Tour operators must be included in the Unified Federal Register and also belong to the necessary associations.
In turn, travel agents are a kind of connecting link, an intermediary between the tour operator and the client. They sell tours; Moreover, their earnings consist of commission payments (from 5 to 16% of the cost of each tour).
The travel agent must also:
- Inform clients about the services provided.
- Select tours depending on the client’s wishes.
- Provide clients with all necessary documents.
- Guarantee the quality of all services provided.
Depending on the size of the start-up capital and the plans of the entrepreneur, travel agencies can exist in various forms.
To open a travel company from scratch, we will need to rent an office, as well as hire all the necessary staff. Despite the fact that this method is the most expensive, it will provide you with maximum financial independence.
The easiest way is to open a travel agency at home. In order to start this type of business, you only need a phone, a computer, Internet access and a printer. After you register an individual entrepreneur, you can start promoting your services using the media. In addition, you can organize meetings with interested parties both at home and on neutral territory (for example, in a cafe). This method of opening a travel agency is quite risky, but it is perfect for people who have a wide circle of friends and considerable professional experience.
The tourism business is accessible to those businessmen who are sociable, resistant to stress, have the ability to convince people and are able to take risks. Additional advantages are knowledge of languages, as well as interest in foreign countries. It is not necessary to have any special knowledge, although it can also be an effective starting point. However, in the tourism business, what is more important is a sincere interest in the work process itself and the ability to learn quickly.Where to start opening a travel agency?
First, we recommend that you pay attention to our other article, which will tell you, this article will help you understand the plan for future actions.You can start a tourism business at home, having only a computer with Internet access and a telephone. The composition of the initial client base can be formed from your immediate environment. However, this type of activity will not bring high income and can only be considered as a form of additional income, which is seasonal in nature. In order to make the tourism business the main source of income, it is important to bring it to the level of the entire country. Otherwise, it is better not to start this kind of business.
For a wide coverage of the tourism services market, it is important to follow several rules of success:
- A tourism business should be opened in areas where competitors have not yet penetrated;
- It is better to develop a small travel agency within a separate service line, since it will be difficult for a wide-profile small company to compete with large competitors;
- It is necessary to identify which segments of the tourism services market are not fully covered by other companies, that is, where there is still unmet demand.
Preliminary cost estimate
Office. Premises for a travel agency are one of the most expensive items in this business. The office of a travel company should be located closer to the center or in the very center of the city, however, in this light, two problems arise: the cost of real estate and the presence of a large number of competitors. In this light, for the first time you can limit yourself to premises in more remote parts of the city, but preferably in places with a large flow of people: bus stops, avenues, squares, etc.
Staff. According to experts, when organizing a travel agency, you should remember a simple rule: office costs are approximately equal to the total staff costs. However, on average, salaries in this industry are very low, so staff should be motivated by providing additional services: benefits for purchasing vouchers, internships and training at the expense of the company, and other benefits. Selecting the bulk of personnel will not be difficult, since work in the tourism sector is easy to learn on the spot. However, it is necessary to involve several professionals with excellent knowledge of foreign languages.
Advertising. The main factor for survival in the market, as well as the initial opportunity to make clients aware of themselves, is advertising. In the tourism sector, such types as television, press, and outdoor advertising are especially popular. These areas of advertising activity are associated with high costs, which are inevitable. In the future, the reputation of the travel company among clients will play a significant role. However, this kind of popularity can be acquired after at least a year of responsible, persistent and scrupulous work.
Stages of creating a travel agency
- Developing a plan. When starting your own business in the tourism sector, it is advisable to develop a business plan. Special attention it should pay attention to the issue of assessing competitors, which it is important to include not only other travel companies, but also sites engaged in the sale of air tickets, hotel reservations and other similar services on a remote basis. In addition, it is necessary to carefully work out the financial plan in order to determine the payback period and the level of profitability of the business.
- Defining a market niche. When opening a travel agency, you should not try to cover everything at once. It is important to be able to focus efforts on those areas in which there is knowledge, connections and partners. At first, it is most effective to use the tactics of unidirectional activity. For example, organize tours exclusively to Europe or work with corporate trips abroad. As part of further activities, you can expand your market coverage and enter other market niches.
- Formation of connections. When creating advertising messages for potential clients, it is extremely important to emphasize distinctive features travel agency: its specialization, reliable partners abroad, specific services. In addition, it should be mentioned that it is much more convenient and profitable for clients to contact a travel agency rather than independently organize trips abroad. Initially, you should work out a system of discounts based on taking into account the seasonality factor, as well as customer loyalty.
[b]Profit generation for a travel agency
The main source of profit for a travel agency is the difference between the price of purchasing travel packages from tour operators and the cost of selling them to clients.
Additional income is also provided by consulting clients and selling air tickets. If we consider the commissions from tourist packages, then for start-up companies they amount to about 10-15% of the cost, and for well-known companies - 18-20%. Thus, the profitability indicator is very significant from the point of view of covering constant and variable costs agencies. For example, if the price of a voucher is 20,000 rubles, and the commission is 10%, then by selling three vouchers a day you can earn up to 150,000 rubles per month.
How to open a travel agency as a franchise?
The tourism industry is fraught with serious risks, which is why more than half of new firms go bankrupt within the first months of activity. This situation is due to the lack of clients, connections abroad, experience and reliable tour operators. However, you can avoid the impact of such unfavorable factors for business by purchasing a franchise to open a travel agency.A franchise inherently presupposes the right of a young company to use the brand, connections, management model and methods of doing business of an established company in the market for a certain fee. According to experts, the cost of a franchise for travel companies is cheaper than covering losses from the implementation of activities on an independent basis.
Features of working in the tourism business
The tourism business in its composition is very broad scope activities. It includes organizing the travel of citizens abroad for vacation, training, business meetings, excursions, booking hotel rooms, purchasing air tickets, ensuring security, etc. However, the entire range of tourism services can be divided into two areas:- Organization of travel of citizens of a given country abroad;
- Reception of tourists from abroad.
In the tourism business, it is important to distinguish between the activities of tour operators and travel agencies. The former organize tours, and the latter sell them. Acting as a travel agency involves working with finished tourism products. Therefore, the main thing is to find clients and reliable tour operators. The average profitability of such a business is about 15-17% per year.
A tour operator company organizes tours independently, that is, purchases air tickets, books hotel rooms, organizes excursions with guides, provides multiple flights, and guarantees the safety of tourists. This kind of business requires significant financial investments, but its profitability is much higher - about 30-40% per year.
Often, travel agencies work together with travel companies on the basis of long-term cooperation agreements.
In order to organize a business as a travel agency, it is advisable to implement the following activities:
- If possible, purchase a franchise;
- Conduct active advertising, in particular, place advertisements in the press, the Internet, radio and television;
- Form a permanent array of customers, attracting them with discounts and additional services;
- Determine areas of activity: recreation, business travel, training, sports, etc.
- Determine the geographic scope of the business: trips to Europe, tours to Egypt or exotic travel;
- Find appropriate tour operators and conclude cooperation agreements with them.
After achieving certain success in the form of a travel agency, you can move on to operating as a tour operator, since it requires serious financial investments. Experts do not recommend starting a business in the form of a tour operator right away due to the fact that at the first stage there is no established client base and experience.
How to open a travel company from scratch (in the absence of start-up capital)?
Despite the fact that the basis of a travel agency, like any other business, is start-up capital, but you can start even in its absence. However, in this case, achieving a stable position in the market, as well as high profits, will occur more slowly. In addition, the main expenses associated with the tourism industry will have to be abandoned, in particular, the costs of personnel, office and advertising will have to be eliminated.As for personnel costs, at first, with a small volume of orders, all the work can be done independently. It should be noted that if you have no experience in this area, you can work for several months in any travel agency before opening your business.
The office problem is also insignificant, since the bulk of the work can be done at home, and meetings with clients can be organized in other places, for example, in a cafe.
Advertising is a central issue, as a new travel agent needs to build an initial client base. For this purpose, you can use your own connections, advertising on social networks and on free advertising sites on the Internet. If you managed to create a website yourself, then with the help of it you can noticeably. The main thing here is not to give up, because quality services will always find their customer base, even if not as quickly as we would like!
Creation of a travel agency to work with corporate clients
One of the promising segments of the tourism services market is the sector of corporate clientele, which is distinguished by its consistency and significant orders. It should be noted that the area of the tourism business related to servicing corporate clients is characterized by increased demand, which attracts novice travel agents. However, it is extremely difficult to penetrate into this segment. Firstly, large companies have internal departments for organizing trips abroad and do not use the services of third-party travel agencies. Secondly, those companies that do not have such departments have long established relationships with specific large travel agencies and constantly use their services. However, one should not abandon the corporate sector at all, since new firms are constantly appearing in the economy, looking for partners in the tourism industry. In addition, often established companies are looking for new travel agents, being dissatisfied with the services of the previous ones. It is these clients that you can include in your initial lists of customers.It should be remembered that corporate clients are customers of a whole range of services, for which the travel agency must be ready to provide. These include:
- Preparation of documents, in particular foreign passports and visas;
- Purchasing air tickets and delivering clients to the airport;
- Booking hotel rooms and delivering items needed by clients (for example, medicines, exercise equipment);
- Fulfillment of all requirements related to the participation of clients in conferences, negotiations, symposiums, round tables and their organization;
- Creating conditions for holding business meetings with clients;
- Planning customer costs abroad and ensuring security.
Another significant difficulty for a travel agent in working with the corporate sector is urgency. Indeed, often only a few hours are provided to provide the services listed above, and sometimes orders have to be completed on weekends. However, this also has its advantage - commissions are usually higher for urgent orders. However, it is better not to use this approach with regular customers. Which rarely provide urgent orders.
As part of the activities for servicing corporate clients, it is advisable to consider high-ranking officials, artists and athletes who often travel abroad and need a reliable travel agency as potential customers. In this light, by providing them with reliable and quality service, the travel company can get them into the ranks of regular customers, which seems to be very profitable. In addition, during the initial period of activity, it is possible to provide assistance to large travel agencies that cannot cope with their work or to serve medium-sized companies that do not have specialized departments for organizing foreign trips.
However, if you still have unclear points, then feel free to voice them in the comments to this post, we will be happy to share our opinion on resolving this or that issue.