How to organize your travel agency in 2017

Travel agencies in Russia are constantly opening, and there is an opinion that this is quite simple. This is true, but staying afloat is much harder than it sounds. At the same time, it is truly true that the tourism industry is still an opportunity to make good profits if we approach the work competently and provide high-quality customer service. You can organize a travel agency with experience in this field of activity or a tourism education.

You will need

• - start-up capital;

• - staff;

• - office for rent.

Instruction manual

1

The first thing to remember is that the opening of a travel agency will not pay off right away. Firstly, customers will not rush to buy tickets from an unfamiliar agency, about which they have not heard anything, and whose office is open for only a week. Tour operators in the same countries are approximately the same, and their prices do not differ too much, so the reputation of the agency plays a big role in the choice of tourists. The profit of an agency from one ticket sold is usually about 10%.

2

Start-up capital - there is no clear amount, with which you can guaranteed to break through with the tourism business. Some agencies start with no more than 10 thousand dollars, but serious travel agencies from Europe, opening in Moscow, spend millions of euros on this. It is necessary to make a connection in the office: it should be several telephone lines and good Internet, so that you can always be able to check available seats for flights of interest and when booking rooms in hotels. If a company works and checks information quickly, it makes a good profit.

3

Rental of premises. Travel services cannot be provided until the agency m is licensed. And it can be obtained only when the staff is recruited and the office space is rented. Since many people do not choose a travel agency in advance, but simply come to ask about directions of interest to the company whose office they meet on the way home or to work, it is advisable to rent a room where there is a large flow of people.

4

To operate a travel agency, a license is required. To get it, it is necessary that at least 1/5 of the agency’s working staff have a tourism education or experience and experience in the tourism business, and at least 3 years. The head of the agency must have a tourism higher or vocational education. For a license you need to contact the Department of Tourism of the Ministry of Economic Development, it is issued for a period of 5 years. At the same time, when applying for a license, you should already have an office and staff of employees, even if you do not get a license. The department decides whether to issue you a license or not, no later than 2 months later.

5

In addition to the license, you will need other documents. Firstly, it is a certificate that the services of the agency comply with quality standards. Secondly, a certificate of hygiene. To get it, you need to know about all the tropical diseases that are dangerous for tourists.

Useful advice

The travel agency needs advertising. Customers will come to you if they are seduced by your poster, which they accidentally see somewhere. A website is today a survival condition for any serious company.