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Is it difficult to open your own travel agency business? How to open a tourism business

The easiest way to open a travel agency is to buy.

But if you still want to do it yourself, we offer you step-by-step instructions from an expert from the company “Sletat.ru”.

Tourism, despite all the difficulties recently experienced, remains an extremely attractive business area. It makes it possible to open your own business with a small investment and is associated with a lot of positive emotions: helping people arrange a vacation, and then hearing their positive impressions is very pleasant. And yet, the tourism business is a tough nut to crack. In order not to break your spears on it, or rather not to lose all your money, you need to take a very balanced and serious approach to opening your own travel agency.

Where to begin?

First of all, it is necessary to find out how the tourism market works and what it consists of. The business owner must decide whether to work with a franchisor or as an independent agency. By opening on your own, you take on more risks. Firstly, unknown travel agencies do not inspire confidence, which means they need more serious efforts and budgets for promotion. Secondly, you will have to independently resolve issues of acquiring technologies related to searching and booking tours. And thirdly, it is more difficult to work with tour operators - suppliers of tourism products.

In modern conditions, it is more effective to open not independently, but under the brand of a large network of travel agencies.

Network travel agencies offering franchises can be divided into main categories, each of which has its own branches.

Travel agencies from tour operators whose task is to sell the tourism product of a given supplier. Obviously, a tour operator can offer low prices for travel only in some destinations, so such a travel agency may ultimately not be profitable enough.
Travel agencies receiving traffic from offline channels. Such agencies are not limited in their choice of tour providers. Their disadvantage is the poor development of Internet technologies.
Travel agencies receiving traffic from online channels. More modern networks that attract audiences using the Internet and have various online tools for searching, booking and selling tours. The downside is that such a network misses out on the “classic” offline audience.
Networks that combine online and offline communication channels and provide technologies for automating work, as Sletat.ru does. The main mission of such companies is to give the travel agency the opportunity, using modern technologies, to sell the most affordable tours and put this process on stream.

When choosing a franchisor, it is important to pay attention to his experience and specifics of doing business. Some companies have a high risk of bankruptcy during a crisis. This is due to the fact that in a number of situations, a tour operator may require an advance payment for tours of up to 100%, while tourists often pay for them in parts, and the management network does not have a sufficient financial “airbag” for such a case.

There is no specific formula for opening a travel agency that will be 100% profitable. Any business involves establishing business processes, and therefore competent management and, of course, the ambition of the travel agency itself often become a certain guarantee of success.

Before opening a travel agency, it is important to analyze the presence of the target audience. If you are going to open in a large city - St. Petersburg, Moscow or another million-plus city - it makes no sense to analyze it entirely. Choose the most attractive area and assess how much demand your company will have there.

Another important element of preparation is analysis of the competitive environment. Find out what agencies are nearby, what they offer, and what your competitive advantages and differences are. You can even go to a competing travel agency as a secret shopper if you really need it.

Investment size

Investments in opening a travel agency are, as a rule, relatively small: this business does not require expensive equipment or the purchase of goods. Nevertheless, the volume of investment can be very different. The main expenses when opening a travel agency are office rent, purchase of equipment, promotion costs and payment of a fee if you are opening a franchise agency.

The larger the city, the higher the rental investment. The rental rate in 2016 is on average about 1.5–2 thousand rubles per 1 sq. m. m, but in Moscow and St. Petersburg it can be slightly higher - on average from 2.5 to 4 thousand rubles. Thus, the minimum rental costs will be about 30–60 thousand rubles.

Personal experience

To provide quality customer service and minimize queues in the office, it is optimal for two managers to work simultaneously. To accommodate two workstations and a comfortable waiting area, a room with an area of 15 sq.m. or more is required.

Don't forget that the room will most likely need renovation. Even if it is in good condition, it will need to be brought up to certain standards. For example, our offices must be branded in accordance with the guidelines. Compliance with these requirements allows you to create a comfortable atmosphere for clients and managers and increases the loyalty of tourists to the brand as a whole.

As for the costs of furniture and appliances, there can be a wide variation in the amount of investment. You can buy inexpensive furniture and used equipment or choose more expensive options.

Don't forget about the costs associated with registering an agency. You will need to register an individual entrepreneur or LLC and pay a state fee, open a bank account (for which the bank will take a commission), recruit staff, register employees with the labor inspectorate and the pension fund. If not strict reporting forms (SSR) are used, but a cash register, then it must be registered. As for settlement and cash services, Sletat.ru, for example, cooperates with the largest Russian banks and offers favorable conditions for franchisees.

The average cost of opening a travel agency “Sletat.ru” (with furniture, equipment and repairs) will be about 150–200 thousand rubles.

The budget for promoting a travel agency can again vary: there are both expensive methods and channels that do not require any investment. On average, you need to budget about 100 thousand rubles for this expense item in the first 4–6 months of work.

Among the fixed expenses of a travel agency is the salary fund for managers. Their salary consists of a salary and a percentage of sales. In St. Petersburg or another large city, a manager can receive 15–20 thousand rubles in salary + 10–20% of the agency’s profit. If we are talking about a small city, then the ratio will be 10–15 thousand rubles of salary + 10–20% of profit.

At the same time, when calculating the volume of investment, you need to firmly understand that in the first six months the agency can operate without profit. This means that some kind of financial “cushion” is needed. Therefore, you should not invest your last funds in the business. An entrepreneur also needs to understand how he will live. Money should not be related to its current costs; a clear budget allocated for business development is needed.

Step-by-step instruction

At the initial stage of development of a travel agency, promotion is a very important point. For it to work best, you need to understand which channels of attracting tourists are most effective in a particular case.

See what potential partners are nearby your travel agency. The tourist audience is adjacent to the leisure sector audience - restaurants, cafes, bars, beauty salons, etc. You can establish contact with representatives of such businesses and conduct joint promotions while spending a minimum of money. For example, you can jointly provide discounts to clients, print double business cards, prepare and place table tents with information about your partner on tables, etc.

Keep in mind that tourists come to the office next to which they live or work. Therefore, it is important to convey information about your discovery and existence to residents of nearby houses. If you opened in a residential area, you can do a mailing list. Moreover, this should not be an attempt to sell a tour, but a beautifully designed invitation to visit your office.

Try to involve local media: tell them about your discovery, make announcements regularly. Remember that promotion should be constant, it should never stop. Otherwise there will be no influx of new tourists.

The first clients are your friends, so you need to call them all.

Personal experience

People spend a lot of time on social networks and do not want to leave their comfortable space. In contact with,Facebookand other similar platforms are a modern, popular and budget channel for attracting tourists. Sletat.ru has developed a special module for searching tours in social networks. Thus, a tourist can search for tours where it is convenient for him, and send requests for selected tours from there.

If you have opened an agency in a small city, it makes sense to reach out to audiences in city-forming enterprises, negotiate with their management and leisure department, offer employee participation in interesting events, etc. Remember that tourism is not limited only to foreign destinations, domestic ones can also be sold. They are well suited to “accustom” the audience to themselves in particular and to travel through travel agencies in general, gradually transferring clients to foreign package tours.

Having decided on the format of work, the place to open and promotion channels, you need to start looking for managers. To determine how many people you will need on staff, you need to understand how large your client base is and how many people will come to the office. Most often, a travel agency employs 1-2 managers. One of them attracts clients, calls, invites them to the office, processes applications, the other sells tours in the office, works with visiting tourists, and conducts further sales work. You need to understand that tourists, when they come to the office, do not always immediately buy a tour. More often than not, they simply learn information, and in order to complete the deal, it is necessary to maintain communication with them.

Businessmen should not undertake the sale of tours on their own. An entrepreneur must think strategically, promote a travel agency, monitor development, look at what the business is missing, etc. If you go headlong into selling tours, it will be impossible to manage your business.

In a modern travel agency, it is important to automate processes related to searching and booking tours and processing incoming applications. Travel agency managers have to search for suitable tours hundreds of times a day. To do this, you can use the “search engines” that are on the website of every self-respecting tour operator. In this case, the manager will have to actually work manually, open many sites and tabs to find a suitable tour from different suppliers, and during this time the price may change. In addition, it will take too much time to work with one tourist.

Today there are special search engines that “collect” offers from all tour operators. They allow you to accumulate all information in one information space and save managers time. When choosing such a service, you need to be careful: it may lack relevance and reliability. The system should upload and update information about the package contents and its price online, and instantly update information about hotel and flight seats.

Personal experience

Sletat.ru has developed a tour search system that contains offers from all major tour operators and updates data on tours in real time. An agency can install the service on its website and promote it on social networks. In this case, the lion’s share of the work in finding a tour is done by the tourist himself. As a result, the time a manager spends working with one client is reduced from 2 hours to 40 minutes.

Another important point is booking the tour. It is much more convenient when the agency does not independently communicate with tour operators, but uses the services of a reservation center. Sletat.ru has created its own Central Bank, which simplifies the work of a travel agent, increases the speed of customer service, allows you to store data on all applications in one place, increases the security of tourist databases and provides a higher percentage of sales and additional bonuses when the plan is fulfilled.

The issue of placing a travel agency should be given special attention. First of all, analyze the city in which you plan to open and the specific location. At first glance, the most successful option is an office in the city center. However, this does not always guarantee success, nor does opening in a residential area.

It all depends on the specific location. If you open in a budget area remote from the center with new development, things may not work out. The bulk of the population here are young families, who often bought housing with a mortgage and do not have extra funds for travel. Therefore, try to choose middle and elite class areas for placement.

You can open on the ground floors of residential buildings, in separate buildings or shopping centers. In the latter case, it is better to choose modern buildings and try to avoid old low-class buildings. But this again depends on the specific shopping center, its location, the freshness of the renovation, and the brands represented.

It is also worth taking a closer look at your surroundings. For example, you can open next to a grocery store. This does not have to be an establishment of a well-known chain, but it is worth focusing on the above-average price segment.

Another tip: it is best to open where there is an opportunity to place an illuminated sign.

A sign is 20–30% of the success of a travel agency. Without it, it will be difficult to find you even for those who go to your agency purposefully. And the sign will also allow you to “lure” those who are simply passing by.

As for the premises itself, there are also certain requirements for it. First of all, you need to focus on the convenience of the tourist. It is advisable that the office be square in shape: this will make it easier to brand it and create comfortable conditions in it. It is important that there are windows in the room, otherwise the atmosphere will put pressure on the client. Basements and semi-basements are not the best choice.

You shouldn't open on the top floors either. If the building has an access system, it should not be complicated. If a tourist, in order to purchase a tour or receive documents, needs to take a passport, write down his data and go up to the 11th floor, then he will most likely give up the trip altogether - few people will want to overcome so many obstacles.

It is advisable to provide a waiting area in the office. When all managers are busy, the client should be able to wait his turn in comfort. Otherwise, he will simply leave for another agency. It is worth placing coffee, tea, and a cooler with clean water in the waiting area.

Another important point is the children's corner. One of the key types of travel agency clients is a woman aged 30–35 with one child. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a play area in which children can do something while parents choose a tour or wait in line.

Documentation

To start a travel agency, you need to register an LLC or individual entrepreneur. Everyone chooses the preferred form for themselves; it is only necessary to stipulate that the owner of a registered individual entrepreneur is liable for obligations with all his property, and an LLC - in the amount of the authorized capital. Also, the owner of a tourism business needs to decide whether he will work with an imputed or simplified tax system.

Many people are confused by the issue of licensing a travel agency. Previously, in order to sell tours, a travel agency actually needed to obtain a license. But according to current rules, licensing is not required. At the same time, a unified all-Russian register has been created for travel agencies on the basis of the Tourist Assistance Association. It is not yet clear whether participation in it is mandatory or the register is advisory in nature. This issue should be clarified by additions and amendments to the tourism law issued in 2016.

Tourism is a profitable and promising business sector, which you definitely won’t regret taking up. This business will allow you to learn a lot of useful and important information, meet many interesting and useful people, and also inexpensively travel around the world on “hot” tours. Let's look at how to open a travel agency from scratch and what you will need for this.

Introduction

If you decide to enter the travel business, then you should distinguish between the concepts of a tour operator and a travel agency.

The tour operator draws up his own route, books transport, hotels and resolves all organizational issues.
A travel agency sells tours from tour operators, receiving a percentage for it.

A travel company is an excellent and profitable business

You will start your business as a tour operator - this is the easiest and most inexpensive way. A travel agency can sell different tours from different tour operators - usually there are no restrictions on this. Tours can be both international and domestic.

How to open a travel agency

Don't know where to start the opening procedure? From registration with the tax office. You can register as an individual entrepreneur or as an LLC. An individual entrepreneur allows you to save time and simplify the reporting system, but an LLC opens up more opportunities for the client.

Then you will need to come up with a name, preferably directly or indirectly related to travel. Of course, you can name a travel agency after your wife or beloved dog, but this is unlikely to bring him popularity. It's better to choose something thematic. You will also need to choose a premises, hire staff and launch an advertising campaign.

Room

A small room with an area of about 20 square meters with 2-3 employees will suit you as an office - this is quite enough in most cases. It is better to choose an office in a crowded, walkable place in the city center. Be sure to make good repairs in the room, install comfortable furniture, and order a high-quality sign. Travel is booked by wealthy people who value comfort and coziness, so you shouldn’t skimp on comfortable armchairs and sofas.

To equip your office, you only need computer equipment

Equip comfortable desks for your employees, buy computers, chairs, various office supplies, shelving, etc. You will also need a photocopier, printer and fax. Pay special attention to the Internet - the channel must be of high quality and stable.

Read also: How to open a recreation center (camp site)

Staff

In order to open a travel agency from scratch, you will need qualified personnel who understand the specifics and know how to convince people. It is best to recruit people who have work experience, have a pleasant voice, good appearance and goodwill. Typically, tour managers receive a minimum wage + a percentage of sales from each tour, which encourages them to work more and with better quality. To begin with, you will only need two or three managers who can cover the main areas of tourism.

Where to take tours

Now let's move on to the question of where to actually look for tours. To begin with, you will need to enter into an agreement with 6-8 tour operators, of which 3-4 should work in key areas. Usually the agency receives 5-15 percent of the cost of the trip. At the first stages, your earnings are minimal, but after you sell 10-20 trips, your commissions will increase significantly. All operators want to sell more, so it is beneficial for them to work with permanent agencies that implement their programs.

You will need computers in order to access operator tour databases. The most common ones are tour-box and tourindex. Access to them is paid, but you can easily pay for the annual subscription by selling 3-5 tickets.

Search for clients

Any means are good for finding clients. Be sure to create your own website - now most tourists look for tours via the Internet. Indicate your contact information, main routes, and price range. Create a newsletter for registered users via Viber or mail, use website promotion services and contextual advertising.

In the media (local radio, television, newspapers, magazines).
On social networks in your city.
Classic outdoor advertising (banners, boxes, leaflets, billboards).

A travel agency sells tours that are designed and provided by a tour operator

Don’t forget about classic marketing techniques: arrange discounts, promise better conditions for attracting customers, create a discount program. You can launch an advertising campaign several weeks before the opening - this will only fuel interest in your company.

Profitability

Unfortunately, we cannot provide a ready-made business plan for a travel agency - in this business everything is quite individual and depends on the specific city. But it is still possible to give approximate figures.

To open an office you will need approximately 400 thousand rubles. This amount includes furniture and office equipment. Renting a room for a year will cost you about another 400,000. Add here advertising, other expenses and taxes - another 100,000 per year. Staff salaries based on 2 managers – 250 thousand per year (excluding interest, net rate). In total, you will need approximately 1.15 million rubles to open.

After compulsory licensing of tourism activities in Russia was abolished in 2007, many entrepreneurs began to wonder how to open a travel agency from scratch, and the Internet was full of step-by-step instructions for this type of business. This is not surprising, the start-up investment is minimal, and this profitable business with small investments pays off after selling only 500 vouchers. What do you need to open a travel agency and where to start?

There are 2 types of service providers in the tourism services market - travel agencies and tour operators. Travel agencies sell ready-made tours, while operators develop them: they select hotels and book rooms in them, organize air travel, and they also set the amount of commission that the travel agency will receive for selling tours.

Travel agencies, in turn, come in two types: some specialize in domestic tours, while others specialize in international ones.

Opening a profitable travel agency from scratch

So, before opening a travel agency from scratch, you need to choose a priority direction for sending tourists - abroad or within the country. In the first case, they usually offer some unique thematic trips, for example, visiting all the major churches of Russia in 7 days or an eco-tour with a demonstration of how they organize the cultivation of strawberries using Dutch technology, and you can also accept foreigners. In the case of international destinations, they usually rely on popular beach holidays and luxury expensive tours.

What do you need to open a travel agency?

The average price of a tour in popular destinations is about $700-800. On average, the agency earns a 10% commission from the sale of a tour, that is, $70-80. In the first year of operation of the company, there will be few orders, approximately 40 contracts per month in the summer and only 15-20 in the winter. The most difficult thing is to survive the low season in the first year, as well as send 400-500 clients abroad. If the company successfully survived the first year of operation, then in the future the number of clients will constantly grow by 2-3 times.

And when the travel agency gets stronger, it can try to become a tour operator. To do this, you will need to buy a liability insurance policy for 5 million rubles and enter the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators. This will allow you to independently create tours, satisfying the demand of regular customers for exotic destinations and set your own prices.

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You can't beat the big players by cutting prices, so you'll have to work hard to make sure your services are worth the money you charge. Those services that set you apart from the rest are very important. Overall service quality is the key to success.

Tourism is an extremely competitive industry and by opening a travel agency you are setting yourself up for a lot of hard work. And when you start a business, you won't be able to take advantage of free or extremely cheap vacations—you simply won't have the time. So the motivation should be related to the work and the service you provide.

You'll spend your days negotiating with people, either in person or over the phone, which takes effort, even if you enjoy talking to people. If you don't have the stamina for this, you shouldn't open a travel agency.

In the tourism business, it is more important not to sell trips, but rather to sell consultations. Your customers want to make sure they can rent a car, go for a walk, or get vegetarian food. It is very important to provide them with a personal approach.

You do not need to have experience in tourism. He will, of course, help, but the most important thing is to be prepared to learn quickly.

How to start

It is quite possible to open a travel agency at home with a computer and a telephone. You can start building a client base with friends and family, so technically it's not difficult to get started.

But you need to think bigger if you want your business to survive. Competition at the local or street level is not high enough for business success. A truly local business will not survive in such a market. It needs to be available throughout the country.

Look at areas that are not yet well covered by travel agencies and start a business there. Or you can start a business that provides specialized travel services and does not require an office.

How much does it cost?

Office costs can be very expensive, but if your travel agency has a narrow specialization, you can save money on an office by renting it in an area where it is cheapest.

Staff:

However, a remote but cheaper office can be a disadvantage when it comes to hiring staff. This is not an industry where workers receive very high salaries, but there is competition for good staff.

Look for people who have experience in tourism and who will be attracted to cheap vacations and offer them good working conditions. Roughly speaking, you will need to spend the same amount on salaries as on renting an office, but you need to be prepared to pay more for experience or knowledge of foreign languages.

Before you open a travel agency, you need to think about how clients will find out about your company. Local newspapers, yellow pages, teletext are good ways, but they are not cheap.

Word of mouth advertising is effective, but know that this is not a business where good service will definitely bring you back again. Your customers will tell their friends about the great service they received, but high price competition will force people to explore other options, even if they end up coming to you.

Opening a travel agency

Develop a plan

Develop a realistic business plan for opening your own travel agency. You will need to compete successfully both with existing agencies and with sites that allow people to book their own hotels and plane tickets. If you do not have experience in the tourism business, then you can work for several months in an existing travel agency to get one.

You should also have a realistic financial plan. After compiling it, consult with an accountant.

Define a Niche

When developing a travel agency business plan, focus on your distinctive features. Extended vacations, trips that involve more than one flight and hotel reservations and guided tours are much more difficult to plan using online services. Many companies also prefer to independently organize trips using the Internet to working with a specific travel agency. When defining your niche, focus on what you are interested in and what you are competent at. If you have extensive experience, for example, in excursion tours to Europe, it is better to open a travel agency that specializes in such tours. If you have connections in the business environment and experience in organizing corporate trips, it is better to open a travel agency focused specifically on companies.

Create connections

Advertise your travel agency by highlighting your specialization and targeting potential clients. In your promotional materials, such as a brochure or website, describe your experience organizing tours and why people would find it difficult to organize them themselves. Based on your knowledge, you may be able to save clients money by combining tours or organizing them at less busy times of the year.

Travel agency profit

A travel agency's profit is the commission it receives for selling a tour operator's package. The fame of your travel agency is important, because international tour operators will not provide a large commission to an unknown organization. Commissions can vary greatly.

The minimum commission starts at 10%, and for well-known travel agencies it reaches 18%. So it will be difficult for you to compete if you are just starting out.

For example, if the average cost of a voucher is 25,000 rubles, then by selling 4 vouchers a day, you can earn an income of 300,000 rubles. per month, which should be enough to cover costs.

How to open a franchise travel agency

How to open a travel agency and not go bankrupt in the first year? (and this happens with 90% of new companies) One solution to this problem is to open a franchise travel agency. You will be provided with a business model, a ready-made brand, connections with a tour operator, and streamlined business processes. Of course, you will have to pay for this, but, as a rule, the fee is not very high.

If you are new to business, then a franchise is the best way for you to open a travel agency. Unfortunately, today there are not very many travel agencies on the Russian franchising market, so the choice of franchisees will be limited.

How to open a tourism business

You need to understand that the tourism business is a much broader concept than a travel agency or travel agency. The tourism business includes hotels, transportation, organizing excursions, etc. In general, two areas of tourism business can be distinguished:

1) Your clients are vacationing somewhere else. Your company organizes the collection of documents, delivery and negotiates with the receiving party, which is engaged in servicing tourists. Almost the entire tourism business in Russia operates under this scheme.

2) Another option is to receive tourists from other cities and countries. Most of the tourism business in countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Spain, Greece, etc. operates according to this scheme. Although there are travel agencies there that provide local residents with the opportunity to relax in another country.

Organizing a tourism business in the first direction is much simpler, since it does not require the creation of infrastructure, construction of hotels, keeping attractions clean, ensuring the safety of tourists, etc. Usually, when people in Russia talk about organizing a tourism business, this is what they mean.

The tourism business related to the first direction can be divided into 2 areas: travel agencies and tour operators. Travel agencies engage in the resale of finished tourism products, and usually do not require large investments to open them. Tour operators organize tours and often rent planes and hotels abroad. They bear significant risks, but also receive significant profits. They implement their tours both themselves and with the help of travel agencies.

In the tourism business, there is no need to confuse a travel agency and a tour operator. The difference is that travel agencies sell tours, and tour operators organize them. You can open a tour operator company, but you need to compete with large companies that buy seats on planes and hotels in bulk, which allows them to reduce the cost of their tours.

How to become a travel agent

So, you have decided to become a travel agent, that is, to sell tours from one or more tour operators. You do not bear significant risks, but you are responsible for the most difficult problem of business - the problem of sales.

Business idea: opening a travel agency from scratch

And you need to solve it well, because commissions are the only source of your income.

First of all, you need to decide on the direction of activity. Will you work only in the most popular destinations (Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt) or will you provide tours to almost all countries? Will you specialize in beach holidays or ski holidays? Which tour operators will you work with?

Once the answers to these questions are ready, you need to think about how you will attract customers. Use advertising in print media and the Internet, give the company a good name, come up with a twist. And don’t forget to serve your customers well - then they will come to you again and bring friends.

How to become a tour operator

Becoming a tour operator requires a significant initial investment. It is tour operators who organize tours and set prices for them, as well as the size of the commission for travel agents.

Most often, tour operators emerge from successfully developing travel agencies, thus immediately having a market for their services.

How to open a travel company without starting capital

It is possible to open a travel company without start-up capital, but you need to understand that you will have to give up all the benefits associated with large expenses. And this, first of all, is the office, advertising and personnel. The problem of lack of staff is easily solved. While your profits are small, you can do everything yourself. When the number of clients increases, and, consequently, the volume of work and profits, you can hire staff to help you. Lack of an office due to lack of staff is also not a big problem. You just need to find another place to meet with clients.

The lack of money for advertising is a serious problem. You need to look for clients yourself, without spending a lot of money, and build a client base. You can use the Internet, communicate with as many people as possible and tell them about your services... By and large, opening a travel company without start-up capital is the solution to this problem.

How to open a travel agency working with corporate clients

Working with corporate clients is considered a separate niche of the tourism business, and if you open a travel agency focusing on them, you can get many advantages. But entering this market can be difficult. Many companies have their own staff who deal with tours, or travel agencies with whom they have been cooperating for a long time. However, new companies regularly appear that do not yet have established relationships with travel agencies, and some companies are not happy with the travel agencies they work with, so starting a travel agency may be a good idea. Or you can find a position as an independent travel agent working from home. In any case, with the right approach you can earn very good money.

Responsibilities

Owners of travel agencies working with corporate clients often have to deal with various responsibilities. In addition to purchasing air tickets (and adding a markup to their cost) and performing other functions typical of travel agents, corporate travel agencies can also provide the following additional services:

Search for last minute tours
Assistance in obtaining visas and passports
Arranging delivery of clients to the airport
Fulfilling special requirements of managers (for example, renting limousines, delivering cardio equipment to the room, etc.)
Making all arrangements required to enable the client's company to attend all conventions and conferences
Providing planning services for all other meetings
Providing cost management services to help clients keep costs under control

The nature of the corporate business model is such that many services may be required with very short notice.

But rather than being a nuisance, rush work is always an opportunity to earn larger commissions, although in this situation you need to act according to the circumstances. It may not be worth raising your prices for an important client who makes a lot of orders, unless they are always urgent.

Potential clients

Almost any company is your potential client, although it is more likely that large companies with a large number of employees will work with travel agencies. Most likely, your clients will also include:

Companies too small to support tour staff and too busy to do so
Departments involved in organizing tours in large companies. They may need your help
Travel agencies that cannot cope with the volume of work
High-ranking executives who travel so frequently that they need someone to focus solely on their plans.
Musicians (including bands) and professional athletes

Some people can visit several countries at once in a year. That's why the idea of opening a travel agency is just perfect for starting your own business. There are travel agents and tour operators in the tourism services market.

Tour operators are engaged in creating a tourist package, which includes: developing routes, purchasing charters, booking hotel rooms, organizing transfers, organizing the reception and departure of tourists, and helping in choosing excursions.

Travel agents are essentially sellers of travel packages (like intermediaries); they are directly connected with tour operators, having entered into an agreement with them to provide their services. The earnings of travel agents is a percentage of the income of the trips they sell.

Before you open a travel agency you need to know:

1. A crowded place is perfect for opening a travel agency; it is advisable that there are some public institutions nearby: banks, offices, business centers, etc., because in the future they will be your regular clients. Don’t skimp on arranging the room, make it as beautiful as possible, you can create a thematic style, in general it should show the level of your services and attitude towards the client.

2. All information about your agency should be in a visible place so that the client can read it without any problems. Although you don’t need a license now, you should have insurance for your activities, so hang it on the wall. Also, in each season of work, you will receive positive feedback and gratitude from travel agents, this can also improve your reputation in the eyes of clients.

3. Please note that before opening a travel agency, you will face a lot of difficulties and it will take a lot of time. Therefore, it is recommended to immediately buy a travel business; this will save you from many organizational issues.

4. Depending on the amount of finances you have, you can even think about an already well-promoted and successful travel business; this will be a very big advantage in your future work. Success will be influenced by such factors as: a well-known name, a positive reputation, a large client base, as well as the agency’s well-known location. If you agree to keep your previous employees, this will also be a significant advantage, because qualified workers who know their job are in short supply in our time.

5. But before you take a ready-made tour. business, carefully familiarize yourself with its background, find out about its reputation, popularity among clients, what share of the market it occupies, this is necessary because the competition is very, very strong. Be sure to find out about the reviews, whether there are any complaints or complaints, and most importantly, whether this agency is suing.

Detailed business plan for a travel agency and travel agency:

If you decide to open your own travel company, then we will tell you in detail where to start this business, so that in a short period of time you can make money from it.

1. To begin with, the right step would be to draw up a business plan for your agency, analyze the budget, it should be selected with reserve. Familiarize yourself with the demand for tourism services in your area, as well as the level of competition, because it is very high. If you do not trust your own views on the situation, then it would be best to turn to people who specialize in the specifics of marketing research.

2. Before registering any business activity, you need to go through many legal nuances. To register a travel agency, you can go in two ways: as a private entrepreneur or as a limited liability company. Since these days the requirement for licenses for travel agencies has been abolished, when concluding an agreement with a tour operator, you can immediately begin your activities.

3. If you are still determined to obtain a license for the full right to engage in tourism activities, then for this you will need to go through a number of legal procedures that meet the requirements of the state. These requirements include the following conditions: your staff must be 20% of employees with secondary specialized education in the field of tourism, or from people who have worked for more than three years in this field, and they must also have well-developed communication skills.

4. The director of a travel agency must have a higher, secondary specialized education, and his work experience in the field of tourism must be more than three years.

5. An office with an area of 25 sq. m. or more is ideal as premises for a travel agency. meters. The city center will be the ideal location for its opening. The premises should have a main entrance and preferably a parking space.

Business idea: How to open a travel agency from scratch?

The location for a new travel agency should be chosen near other similar agencies. This will make it convenient for customers to choose between offers. The main criteria by which a client chooses a travel agency are the quality of the hotel being booked and the amount of the discount provided. The office premises should please the client’s eye, because people who want to use your services have high hopes for the agency and have a lot of money in their pockets, so their expectations should not be disappointed. No matter the size of the room, the sign should attract attention and be memorable.

6. Agreement with tour operators. Before choosing several tour operators, decide what target audience your travel agency will have and what area of recreation it will operate in. Also decide on the specialization of tours, usually international and domestic.

7. For greater confidence, it is recommended to enter into an agreement with ten tour operators. About half of them should correspond to the key destinations that your travel agency specializes in; Egypt and Turkey would be a good example, because these are some of the most popular holiday countries. The remaining operators can be divided into other, less popular areas; this is necessary to expand the range and load the agency with work. This division will be correct because at the end of the season of the main offers, people who prefer to travel all year round will be able to choose from many other trips.

8. An important factor when choosing an operator will be its time in the tourism services market, as well as customer trust and, of course, reputation.

Do not get hung up on any of the tour operators, basing this on your personal attraction and fame of the company. It would be more correct to distribute contracts, each of which would correspond to its own direction. Thus, the client will be able to choose the most suitable price for the provision of hotel services. You won’t always have clients with full wallets, so you need to balance your prices so that they suit everyone.

The tour operator is the main factor in earning your capital. The commission amount can vary from 5 to 16 percent for each tour sold.

9. After you open a travel agency, the next step will be to promote and promote your agency. You'll have to spend a lot of money on advertising at first, so factor that cost into your business plan from the start. As a rule, there will be expenses: on advertising on the Internet, on TV and in newspapers. Never resort to one-time advertising, as experience shows - this is money down the drain, the frequency of publications should be high, only thanks to this method you will reach a large number of the target audience. Please note that depending on the level and cost of the services you offer, it is necessary to place advertising in those places where it will be seen by citizens who can afford these services.

10. You should not count on clients in the form of acquaintances and friends, no matter how strange it may sound, but these people are the least likely to resort to your services. Although this is contradictory information, as statistics show, the influx of this group of people comes only after your company is sufficiently promoted and becomes quite famous. We wish that your business in the tourism sector will bring you positive results in a short time, and that your travel company will gain many satisfied and wealthy clients who will return again and again.

The travel agency organizes day trips around the city. Should the agency issue travel vouchers?

Answer: If a travel agency organizes one-day excursion trips around the city, then it should not issue tourist vouchers.

Rationale: In order to determine whether tourist vouchers are required when organizing day excursions, it is necessary to determine what constitutes a tourist voucher.

According to Art. 1 of the Federal Law of November 24, 1996 N 132-FZ “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities in the Russian Federation” (hereinafter referred to as Law N 132-FZ), a tourist voucher is a document containing the conditions of travel, confirming the fact of payment for the tourist product and being a strict reporting form.

Tourism is temporary departures (travels) of citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and stateless persons from their permanent place of residence for medical, recreational, educational, physical education, sports, professional, business, religious and other purposes without engaging in activities related to obtaining income from sources in the country (place) of temporary stay.

A tourist product is a set of transportation and accommodation services provided for a total price (regardless of the inclusion in the total price of the cost of excursion services and (or) other services) under an agreement on the sale of a tourist product.

A tourist is a person visiting a country (place) of temporary stay for medical, recreational, educational, physical education, sports, professional, business, religious and other purposes without engaging in activities related to generating income from sources in the country (place) of temporary stay, for a period from 24 hours to 6 months in a row or spending at least one night in the country (place) of temporary stay.

The customer of the tourism product is the tourist or another person ordering the tourism product on behalf of the tourist.

Tourist activity is the activity of organizing travel (Article 1 of Law No. 132-FZ).

These definitions allow us to identify signs of activity directly related to tourism activities. Such signs, in particular, include: travel outside the place of residence for a period of more than 24 hours and less than 6 months, the presence of certain purposes of departure (educational, medical and recreational, etc.), placement in the country (place) of temporary stay, etc.

For persons visiting a country (place) of temporary stay for educational purposes for a period of less than 24 hours without spending the night in the country (place) of temporary stay and using the services of a tour guide (guide), guide-interpreter, Law No. 132-FZ allocates a special term - excursionist .

Tourist agency

One-day excursions around the city do not fall under the definition of travel and tourism, and are not fully considered a tourism product, since they do not involve the departure of citizens from their permanent place of residence and the provision of accommodation services. This means that the activity of a travel agency in organizing one-day excursions is not a tourist activity.

However, day trips (excursions), although not directly related to tourism, may be indirectly related to tourism activities if services for organizing day excursions are provided as part of a single tourism product. In this case, one-day excursion trips are partially regulated by Law N 132-FZ.

If a travel agency organizes one-day excursion trips as an independent service, then this activity is subject to regulation in accordance with Chapter. 39 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the provision of paid services.

In addition, according to Art. 4.1 of Law N 132-FZ, organizations providing excursion services on the territory of the Russian Federation for no more than 24 hours in a row are not required to have financial support in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

Thus, based on an analysis of the legal nature of organizing one-day excursions within the city, we can conclude that this activity, carried out as the provision of independent services, does not relate to tourism activities and is not subject to regulation by Law N 132-FZ.

According to the provisions of the Federal Law of May 22, 2003 N 54-FZ “On the use of cash register equipment when making cash payments and (or) payments using payment cards,” organizations and individual entrepreneurs carrying out cash payments and (or) payments using payment cards are required to use cash register equipment included in the State Register. Organizations and individual entrepreneurs, in accordance with the procedure determined by the Government of the Russian Federation, can carry out cash payments and (or) payments using payment cards without using cash registers in the case of providing services to the population, provided that they issue the appropriate strict reporting forms (clause 2 of Art. 2 of Federal Law N 54-FZ).

A tourist voucher is a strict reporting form, and its form is approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 07/09/2007 N 60n “On approval of the strict reporting form form”.

Forms of strict reporting forms approved before the entry into force of the Government of the Russian Federation Decree No. 359 of 05/06/2008 “On the procedure for making cash payments and (or) settlements using payment cards without the use of cash register equipment” are used by organizations and individual entrepreneurs providing to the population such services for which these forms are approved by orders of the Ministry of Finance of Russia.

Consequently, an organization engaged in tourism activities has the right to carry out cash payments without the use of cash register equipment in the case of providing services to the population, subject to the execution and issuance of a strict reporting document “Tourist voucher”.

Registration of a tourist voucher is mandatory for organizations engaged in tourism activities (Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 10, 2010 N 03-01-15/4-120, Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated November 1, 2010 N 17-15-114738; clause 3 Letters of Rospotrebnadzor dated August 31, 2007 N 0100/8935-07-32 “On the peculiarities of law enforcement practice related to ensuring the protection of consumer rights in the field of tourism services”).

This means that for carrying out other non-tourist activities, including activities for organizing one-day excursion trips as an independent service, issuing a tourist voucher is not mandatory.

M. R. Zabelina

Auditing company LLC "INSEI"

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People in the CIS countries, especially in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, love to fly abroad, travel around countries and relax, and you can make money on this by opening your own travel agency. But, if you are not a successful entrepreneur, how to open a travel agency from scratch? Step-by-step instructions with recommendations from established businessmen, clear advice and a financial plan in our article.

First steps - choosing a concept

You can find four options on the market for a long time:

A private travel agency requires renting an office, hiring staff and concluding contracts with other companies, but you don’t have to depend on other people. This option is more suitable for those familiar not only with business, but also with the work of a tour operator.
A home travel agency is the easiest way for a newbie in business to join this environment. You won’t need to rent an office and hire other people, but don’t expect much profit either. In this case, only a person with his own client base and skills in the marketing environment can burn out. Get ready that only the middle class of people will come to you.
An online travel agency is a format of online shopping that is extremely popular with people, which can allow them to travel to different cities and countries, so the travel agency must not go under. The main thing is that the company’s website contains complete information about the company itself, about tours and offers, and is also really convenient for the average ordinary visitor. Include the ability to communicate with the operator, select changes to the trip and pay through online wallets for the convenience of the buyer.
Franchising is the best format for a first-time entrepreneur, because a beginner is not yet ready to solve some problems on his own. The advantage of this option is that your new agency is opened under the leadership of a well-known network like “World of Discovery”; you do not remain without the attention and trust of potential buyers. You will also receive some equipment, free business training, a marketing campaign and the necessary connections at the very beginning.

First pitfalls

The least popular period for tourism is the off-season periods - several months winter-summer + several months autumn-winter. Of course, some bursts of activity are guaranteed, because someone has holidays, vacations or personal circumstances, but such periods must be taken care of in advance.

In the first year, it is important to intensively prepare to expand the customer base through discounts for the May holidays, unusual ideas for summer vacations and promotions for trips during non-vacation months.

Take care of planning your expenses in unprofitable months, and, most importantly, you should open a travel agency in early spring, so that you have time to increase your client base before the fall. During the “dead” seasons, your travel agency should offer the sale of air tickets, the services of a lawyer for obtaining a visa, as well as special domestic tours to the cities of the country.

Download a sample travel agency business plan as a template for your own.

Registration

There are two regulatory forms; you should choose based on your desires and aspirations, as well as initial capabilities.

The first option is an LLC (legal entity). Registration of a legal entity requires a large financial investment, but makes it possible to open a whole network of travel agencies.
The second option is an individual entrepreneur (individual). A beginner should start with this form, because the investment is quite small, and it’s easier for many to collect the documentation. True, situations arise when tour operators require mandatory registration of an LLC, but do not work with individual entrepreneurs.

We prepare documentation

Step-by-step instruction:

Start by choosing the name of the travel agency. Think of something sonorous, memorable, appropriate in meaning, but quite serious. For example, “World of Discovery” is suitable.
Choose a room. This is important for determining the company's registered address.
It is important to choose the right type of activity in a travel agency according to the classifier.
Pay the state fee.
Notarize the signature of the application for company registration.

For a legal entity, it is also necessary to perform two more actions - to determine the authorized capital in the amount of at least 10 thousand rubles, and also for each of several founders to create a model of its share with its nominal value.

We are looking for suitable premises

You will need a small area located in an area with the highest traffic of potential buyers. This is why travel agencies like to open in business centers.

Be guided by the name, because, for example, “Business Ocean” clearly says that there are many entrepreneurs and office workers in the building, and everyone has a vacation. Undoubtedly, it is important that the premises are located in the city center, even if these are small regional cities like Omsk or Samara.

We select a pleasant interior

Design a decent and comfortable client corner, where there will be a coffee table and a comfortable small sofa for several people. If you want your clients not to get bored, organize a small number of travel-themed magazines, preferably with a lot of photographs. The tourist model should be read throughout the office design - paintings, straw hats, photo wallpapers and other things reminiscent of tourism.

Don’t be afraid to express your own “wants” and creativity in design. Be original! Employees also need their own area. To ensure efficient work processes, organize desks, comfortable computer chairs and shelving with everything you need to work. You will also need space for a printer, copier and other important devices.

We select personnel

A travel agency as a business does not tolerate fraternization and forgiveness of mistakes, so never agree to hire relatives and friends.

Only hire those who show professionalism and the ability to accept criticism. It is very profitable to hire people with experience in tourism, but some personnel can show excellent work even without experience. Browse job candidates in the following categories:

way and manner of speaking:
competent construction of sentences and pleasant presentation of thoughts;
the ability to identify what needs to be put in the foreground;
ability to persevere, focus on a specific task;
how seriously a person takes the tourism industry;
the ability to present your personality to another person;
relaxed, worry-free communication with strangers;
what things interest him, breadth of outlook;
proposed ways to resolve various conflict situations.

Therefore, the candidate must become an example of a person who is able to interest others in a purchase, who is able to work with people with money.

Are you planning a small project? Two or three customer service employees and a cleaner are enough for stable office operation. Later, it is worth hiring an accountant and programmer, with the expectation of expanding the business. As a salary for managers, offer a minimum payment, supplemented by a percentage of revenue, in order to motivate them to work more efficiently.

Choosing a reliable tour operator

In order not to make a mistake and reduce risks, enter into contracts with ten different operators at once, half of which must specialize in a particular area.

Choose a direction that is calculated by other companies as the most popular in your city or entire region, but do not forget about unusual options.

At first, you will not begin to receive much profit, but after the first tourists the percentage will begin to increase. If you start showing an excellent example of a business project with successful sales, more offers will come from more successful operators.

There is also a ready-made example of a search database for online tours and operators, which can slightly simplify the work of your travel company. The most popular database is the site tourindex.ru, where access to the database is obtained for a significant fee. For a year of service you will have to pay 26 thousand rubles, but whether it is profitable to remain without such reliable support is up to you to decide.

We are looking for potential clients

In order not to be left without clients, open your own company website so that its design and content are handled by a professional web designer and system administrator rolled into one.

You can still use other advertising methods:

Making announcements in the media, including radio.
Advertising the company on billboards and banners.
By broadcasting advertising on TV in ad blocks.
Hiring people to hand out leaflets.
Motivating clients to write reviews about the agency to launch word of mouth.

Sometimes clients come to the office from an unknown source, so it is important to constantly adjust even a ready-made business plan, as well as keep a special journal about the channels of client receipt in electronic form. This will help you do regular analytics of statistics on attracting people to a travel agency. Don’t forget about discounts, promotions and bonuses that perfectly motivate people not only to make purchases, but also to attract their friends and family.

Video: how to open a travel agency?

What are the expenses and income?

The profitability indicator is individual and depends on a variety of factors.

*Expense line*		*Amount of costs, thousand rubles.*
1	Initial rent for two months	100
2	Repair	80
3	Furniture	50
4	Public utilities	10
5	Paperwork	5
6	Manager's salary	15 x 2
7	Cleaner's salary	10
8	Marketing campaign	15
9	Taxes	30
10	Unexpected expenses	10
Total:		340

The opening of a travel agency itself will cost about 300 thousand rubles or more, but you will also have to pay monthly rent for premises, taxes, employee wages, utilities, and much more.

The average payback is almost one and a half, or even two years. In the first year, it is important for a travel agency to simply survive and stay afloat in a sea of competition. This can be achieved through pleasant service, quality services, good service and competent advertising. Only after achieving a sales level of 500 trips annually, the project becomes an established business.

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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
No. 4 How to make money without having a travel agency?

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 a fairly easy 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 for even 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 sum in the construction of Olympic facilities and in the infrastructure of the entire surrounding area. After the Olympics, these attractions, advertised all over 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.

The sharp rise in patriotism in recent years 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 young people gather in large groups for parties, the price of accommodation in a hostel is much lower than in ordinary 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, the authorized capital remains at 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 the costs can be written off for staff training, including going on study tours, as well as large advertising costs.

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 there are about 15 million trips per year. The Rosstourism website has all the data. Here, for example, is a table of the top 50 tourist countries with the number of visits:

1	Türkiye	2 767 649
	EGYPT	1 429 629
	GREECE	1 097 884
	SPAIN	887 191
	CHINA	787 226
	FINLAND	787 159
	THAILAND	683 082
	GERMANY	638 193
	ITALY	605 482
	CYPRUS	494 702
	BULGARIA	478 829
	UAE	433 421
	CZECH REPUBLIC	355 475
	UKRAINE	333 462
	FRANCE	298 029
	TUNISIA	245 081
	MONTENEGRO	233 672
	AUSTRIA	209 277
	ISRAEL	165 920
	SWITZERLAND	159 189
	GREAT BRITAIN	143 862
	VIETNAM	139 648
	DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	109 773
	UNITED STATES	108 444
	INDIA	100 832

	LATVIA	81 922
	CROATIA	79 824
	NETHERLANDS	78 679
	REPUBLIC OF KOREA	75 926
	HONG KONG	48 517
	MEXICO	39 792
	ARMENIA	38 289
	QATAR	36 712
	AZERBAIJAN	35 751
	CUBA	34 714
	POLAND	33 120
	MALDIVES	32 835
	BELGIUM	32 775
	SERBIA	30 246
	SWEDEN	28 910
	HUNGARY	27 113
	MALTA	25 859
	MOROCCO	25 855
	ESTONIA	25 787
	DENMARK	24 957
	JAPAN	24 597
	PORTUGAL	24 006
	MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC	23 024
	KAZAKHSTAN	21 726
	GEORGIA	18 569

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
The franchisor's software will be installed on your computers
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 a common database of corporate documents, reports and knowledge

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 a certain design is required.
And others…

In our opinion, one way or another, before opening a travel agency, you need to consider all 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 is worth looking at the presence of representative offices of tour operators in your region; if there are any, this will facilitate further work on document flow, 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 this case it 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 account 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 campaigns eats up a fairly large portion of a travel agency's profit; in some cases, it reaches 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 go about their usual business and drive their business into a trap from the very beginning. 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.

The 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:

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. A good experience can be gained from communicating 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 types of advertising, and in this business, like 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 on social networks, and in this matter the format of your business, in the sense of small or medium, is not important. 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 clients. 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:

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:

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 are also a 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 of a profitable opening of a 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. A 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 book a tour, respectively, the more money 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 and learn how to take beautiful photos. By being smart and observant, you can pick up a good list of the most beautiful places in 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.
With 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 according to an 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 friends, a regular at city clubs and parties, started his own tourism 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, famous personalities often come to the clubs of our city with their concerts, which many fans and admirers want to attend, but some kind of uncertainty prevents them from going, where to spend the night, etc.
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. Get 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!