How the tourism business works. How to open a travel agency from scratch - a step-by-step plan. Choosing the scope of the travel agency

The tourism business today, despite being competitive, is quite promising direction. But how not to get lost among powerful agencies and rating companies, where to start travel business? I will answer all these questions below.

Travel agency and tour operator: what is the difference

Before you open your travel business, you should know that all companies in this area are divided into two large groups: travel agencies and tour operators.

A travel operator is a company that directly develops tours, organizes and sells them through a network of travel agencies.

Thus, the tour operator himself forms the product, concludes contracts with foreign partners, thinks over the routes and details of the tour. However, such companies very rarely sell their products on their own. This work falls on the shoulders of travel agencies.

Travel agencies are companies that are exclusively engaged in the implementation of tours developed by tour operators, while receiving a percentage of each transaction.

It is worth mentioning that it is more profitable to organize trips on your own. But at the same time, there are many more risks in this area. Therefore, to start, they still often choose the creation of travel agencies.

As a rule, the travel agency receives 7-10% of each transaction. However, if sales managers can advertise the product in a quality manner, then the income can be many times higher. For example, the cost of the tour declared by the operator is $1500, and the same trip was sold at the agency for $2000. Thus, the income from the transaction is 7-10% of the declared value plus $500.

Company registration

So, you have decided on the format of your company. What's next? Further actions for tour operators and travel agencies are slightly different. The travel agency can act as a private entrepreneur or legal entity(the second option is still preferable).

But the tour operator must be registered in unified register and obtain a certificate certifying that the company's services comply with the law and all regulations.

In addition, the tour operator must necessarily have financing or a bank guarantee of funds for activities such as domestic, outbound and international tourism.

Also, if you plan to organize international travel, then you will need to regularly make contributions to Tourist Assistance (an organization that provides assistance to tourists who find themselves in difficult situation Abroad).

Start-up capital and business plan

Like any other business, tourism also requires a certain amount of start-up capital. The main items of expenditure at the initial stage are:

• Room rental.
• Office equipment.
• Advertising.
• The salary of the employees of the company.
• Registration of insurance.
• Payment of state duties.
• Payment of utility services.

Also, before starting work, you will need to draw up a business plan, which should include the following items:

• Characteristics of activities.
• Organizational and legal form of the company.
• Organizational structure of the company.
• Production plan.
• Financial plan.
• Technical equipment plan.
• Marketing plan.
• Employee pay plan.
• Possible risks.

Learn more about how to start a travel business:

Search and equipment of the premises

The next important stage in opening a tourism business is finding and equipping the premises. Remember that the office business card each travel agency, since this type of activity involves constant work and communication with people.

Your office should be located in a passable place, not far from the subway or transport stop. Also, there must be parking in front of the entrance. The best option for renting a building is the business center of the city, since it is there that most of the target audience is located.

When equipping an office great attention give appearance buildings and outdoor advertising. It is desirable that the agency has its own unique banner above the entrance.

The office must be made a quality repair, as any agency focuses on wealthy clients. It is necessary to equip tables and sofas for waiting, as well as places for employees. Also, you should purchase powerful computers, printers, a projector and conclude an agreement with a reliable Internet provider.

It is worth noting that most tourists are used to looking for suitable offers via the Internet. Therefore, already at the initial stage, it is necessary to develop and promote your own website.

Search for colleagues

When looking for employees for a company, be sure to pay attention to the following points:

• availability of specialized education;
• at least one year of experience in the tourism industry;
• knowledge of foreign languages;
• pleasant speech and the ability to convince;
• pleasant appearance;
• a responsibility.

You should not hire relatives or acquaintances, as it will be very difficult to build business relations with them initially.

Advertising

New tourist agency in any case, it will need a high-quality advertising company, because not only recognition, but also the image of the enterprise depends on it.

• Advertising on the Internet. First you need to create your own website, and then promote it. It can be SEO promotion or contextual advertising. Also, it is worth paying attention to other ways to attract an audience: work in in social networks, work on brand awareness in the network, reputation management, crowd marketing, work on feedback sites.
• Signboard. quality outdoor advertising is the face of your company. Entrust the creation of a banner to a trusted advertising agency.
• Booklets and catalogues. Such advertising can be distributed not only in the office, but also on the streets. To do this, it will be enough for you to hire several promoters.
• Advertising in the media. This is a rather expensive form of advertising, but nevertheless, very effective. It will allow you to quickly make your brand recognizable and attract potential customers.

When organizing a tourism business, there are many things to consider. And it is impossible to consider all of them within the framework of one article. Therefore, I would like to give some advice to beginners that will help you not to get lost among the competitors.

Of course, if you do not have the necessary funds and cannot open a travel agency, then you have a great chance to try your hand at tourism. Moreover, regardless of whether you are a beginner or an experienced tourism manager. This article will talk about.

At the time when I opened my travel agency, I had a competitor who worked from home. He had his own base regular customers(about where he earned them, history is silent), and he worked quite successfully with his clients. When I asked how he concludes his contracts, I was told that he almost “goes out into the stairwell in slippers” and gives the contracts to tourists. Nevertheless, some of the clients he still managed to intercept.

But still, he needed to open an individual entrepreneur, conclude agreements with a large list of tour operators, pay taxes and pension contributions, keep accounts, etc. And all this requires, as you understand, additional resources - time and money. Do you need this red tape? Another option is to work "in the black", as some do. What I strongly DO NOT recommend to you (there are many serious reasons for this, one of them is the article "tax evasion", but even this is not the worst). But I have a much better, simpler, more profitable offer for you, and that's what it is.

How to open a travel agency at home

What do you need in order to open a travel agency at home? Everything is very simple - it's a computer, phone, printer and Internet access.

Fortunately for us, today a unique service has appeared, which was approved by our President V.V. Putin. And now in the field of tourism services and legal advice, you can be officially employed. Deductions will be made for you Pension Fund, pay taxes, and, at any time, you can make yourself a 2NDFL certificate.

What is this service anyway?

I'm talking about a service like workle (link to resource https://www.workle.ru). After registering, you will be given a short presentation that will tell you how to work on the workle.

If you already have experience in tourism - great! So you already have your customer base. Then you can earn a good commission from the tours you sell. And it will be more than what you are offered in a travel agency (about 8%). If you do not have experience in tourism, then do not despair! Workle took care of you and created free materials and courses that will help you quickly master this craft. And to test your knowledge, you will be given special tests, after which you will no longer doubt your knowledge and will be able to start practicing.

Moreover, you will have career. The more tours you sell, the more your commission will become. Plus, the workle has its own system of rewarding users and bonuses for the "best user". Just think how many advantages you get from such a service:

1. you do not have any paperwork, you do not need to "reduce debit with credit", everyone does it for you;
2. you are officially employed, payments to the pension fund, taxes are deducted for you, you can get a 2NDFL certificate (for example, for a loan or a visa);
3. you do not depend on anyone, you work for yourself and at the same time you do not need to go to work in the morning, you can work where you want or where it is convenient for you;
4. you do not need to rent your office and pay employees for work, this significantly reduces your costs;
5. you get a higher commission than working in an agency;
6. you have career growth, thanks to which you increase your income, you do not need to be someone's relative, flatter your boss, etc., it all depends on you;
7. you do not have any risks, you do not risk your funds and property (in the case of an individual entrepreneur);
8. you have the opportunity to improve your skills, thanks to the courses that you will find on the service;
9. you do not need to fulfill a sales plan, you earn and work as much as you need;
10. you can use this service as additional income etc.

And many other advantages that you can get by working in the workle system. Plus, I will give you some skype consultations that will help you: negotiate correctly, attract tourists from the Internet, and many other useful tools that will make you good manager for tourism. I will do all this for free if you join my workle team.

To do this, you need to click on the link https://www.workle.ru/?code=ACADA5D3 and register on the site. After registration, you need to write an email [email protected] site, and indicate in the subject of the letter "I joined your team at workle", and write your login in skype. After verification, I will send you an invitation on Skype and we will discuss a convenient time for you.

Hope we answered your question how to start a travel agency at home.

I wish you a great day and great sales!

Well's tourist office owners say it's profitable business, but too small and too seasonal to be a major source of income

“Very much in this [tourist] business depends on the personality of the office director, on his participation in the work of the agency,” explains Ilya Permilovsky, Well's franchising manager. - If a person understands that he is not ready to invest his time and energy in this matter, best solution becomes a closing point in the first months". (Photo: Oleg Yakovlev / RBC)

Despite all the troubles of the tourism market and economic crisis, sale of tours and now can bring stable income. One of the advantages of working in the tourism business is the opportunity to open an agency with no work experience and with minimal initial investment. Travel agency "Vell" offers to open a point under its own brand without lump sum and with a small fixed royalty. It estimates the initial investment at only 150-450 thousand rubles. and promises that they will fight back in 3-6 months of work.

The owner and head of the Well company, which offers a franchise under the brand of the same name, is Ekaterina Monakhova; she has been in the tourism business since the 1990s, and established Well LLC in May 2003. Well's franchising manager, Ilya Permilovsky, claims that the company now has 310 points of sale, ten of which are its own, and the rest are franchised. He stipulates that he works with Well's partners under a co-advertising agreement, not a commercial concession or licensing agreement, and acknowledges that nearly a third of Well's new offices close in their first year of operation. “A lot in this business depends on the personality of the office director, on his participation in the work of the agency,” explains Permilovsky. “If a person understands that he is not ready to invest his time and energy in this business, the best solution is to close the outlet in the first months.” Despite a large percentage of closures, between 15 and 40 offices join the network every year, says Permilovsky.

Franchisor's view

Well does not impose any special conditions on potential franchisees: they need to find a room of 15 sq. m, arrange it in the colors of the brand, purchase office equipment, install corporate software on it and undergo training. The right to operate under the Well franchise is granted free of charge. Royalty is paid in advance three months in advance and depends on the size of the locality where the franchisee is going to work: 10 thousand rubles. per month - for Moscow, 6 thousand rubles. - for St. Petersburg, 5 thousand rubles. - for cities with a population of over 100 thousand people, 3 thousand rubles. - with a population of over 50 thousand people and only 2 thousand rubles. - with a population of less than 50 thousand people. After the franchisee's candidacy is approved, the head office sends him an installation agreement - a preliminary contract that assigns to the entrepreneur a territory within a radius of 1.5 km from the proposed office.

The process of opening an office from the moment of signing the installation contract should take from a week, if the premises are owned, up to two months. The network average is two months. The payback of the initial investment, which the company estimates at 150-450 thousand rubles, should come in 3-6 months. There is no penalty system in the company. The only penalty for the franchisee - 0.1% of the monthly payment - is charged if the partner did not pay royalties on time and did not get in touch for two weeks.

In 2014, the average cost of a tour at Well agencies was about 60 thousand rubles. for two adult travelers. According to the parent company, the Well office arranges 250-300 tours per year, selling tours for 15-18 million rubles. The commission income of the office - 8-14% - is 1.2-2.5 million rubles. per year, or 100-210 thousand rubles. per month. All Well partners sell tours through the Well-touradmin corporate IT system. All requests for tours and payments for them go through the central office of Well: it aggregates payments to tour operators and transfers commission to partners. Well believes that the net profit of the office should be about 70 thousand rubles. per month.

Well numbers

310 working offices

60 thousand rubles — the average cost of a tour for two in 2014

0 rub. - cost of the franchise

2-10 thousand rubles - monthly royalty

15 sq. m — recommended office space

150-450 thousand rubles – starting investments for opening an office

8-14% - the size of the commission of the travel agent working with Well

1.2-2.5 million rubles - monthly revenue from the sale of tours

3-6 months - franchise payback period

Source: company data.

The parent company recommends that its partners locate their office in a bright room with sufficient space for outdoor advertising. There are no clear criteria for passability, the main thing is that the majority of passers-by should be women. “Usually, it is the woman who collects all the information about the future trip and passes it on to her husband, who makes the decision,” advises Permilovsky. “Therefore, beauty salons, kindergartens, and schools should be located near the office.” Furniture for the future office is purchased by entrepreneurs themselves. Previously, Well worked in partnership with a furniture company that paid the company a percentage of each franchisee order. But now the head office simply gives a list of equipment and furniture that should be at each point.

In the selection of managers, the franchisees are assisted by Well specialists - however, it does not come to a personal interview with applicants. The head office sends the entrepreneur a series of country studies tests, which can be used to determine the qualifications of a future employee. If there are more than 60% correct answers, the candidate can be considered a professional. The office manager and all employees must pass free education in Moscow. For two days they are taught courses on document management and country studies. The first block teaches how to work with software Well-touradmin. With its help, you can select tours, maintain a customer database and work with applications, and the office owner can control the work of managers remotely. The second block teaches you how to navigate the list of resorts and hotels, talks about the features of tourist countries.

The joint advertising agreement signed by Well and its partners does not imply the creation of a common advertising fund. Each office decides on marketing campaigns independently. According to Permilovsky, online advertising works best in Moscow, outdoor advertising in large cities, and in small settlements- rotation on radio and television: airtime is inexpensive here, and the entrepreneur can afford to light up on local channels. The head office places advertisements for the entire network in search engines (Yandex.Direct, Google AdWords) and on specialized tourism websites.

The only moment that the parent company promises to take on is conflicts with tour operators. For example, tourists may not be able to check into a hotel on time or there may be a flight delay due to a flight delay. Such issues are resolved with the top management of tour operators, which is difficult for an ordinary office to reach. “We personally know the directors of all operators, and personal communication in Russia remains the most effective,” says Permilovsky. The rest is at the mercy of agents.

“Usually, it is the woman who collects all the information about the future trip and passes it on to her husband, who makes the decision,” says Ilya Permilovsky, Well's franchising manager. “Therefore, beauty salons, kindergartens, and schools should be located near the office.” (Photo: Oleg Yakovlev / RBC)

Franchisee's view

Oksana Agzhitova from Kasimov (Ryazan region) opened a Well office in July 2015. She managed to significantly reduce the initial investment: by the time she became a franchisee, she already had own business- a TV channel in my hometown, so there were no problems with advertising. I didn’t have to spend money on furniture either: the travel agency was located in a pavilion next to the holding, from where they moved necessary inventory. Oksana decided to conduct business with her friend. “We only invested in printing (it took about 10 thousand rubles to print interior and promotional materials) and added comfort to the office by buying a sofa and a coffee table,” says Agzhitova. Taking into account minor expenses (stationery, Internet, etc.), the opening of a point cost entrepreneurs only 45 thousand rubles.

Agzhitova believes that one of the main advantages of cooperation with Well is the absence of plans to sell tours: “I talked with the tour operator Coral, but immediately dismissed this option of cooperation: the plans set by the company cannot be fulfilled in our small town.” On average, for three months of work, her outlet sold tours for 600 thousand rubles. per month. The office's expenses are less than those for which the main office is preparing: the point in Kasimov requires 40-50 thousand rubles. per month.

Moscow businessman Roman Voinov met at the start of 130 thousand rubles. Being far from tourism (Voinov rented out cars and kept grocery store), he chose this type of business because of small investments. The opening took three months, most of which Voinov spent looking for a suitable office. “I considered two options for the premises - retail and office centers he says. - In the first case, there was sky-high rent, but a large flow of visitors, 99% of which, however, come in to scratch their tongues and do not buy anything. In an office building, the rent is significantly lower, but you also have to fight for customers - lean on advertising, connect word of mouth. I chose the second option."

Voinov paid off the initial investment in six months. Now his profit is about 80 thousand rubles. per month, but could be much higher if not for currency fluctuations and a collapse in the market of tour operators, he is sure. In addition, the tourism business is strongly tied to the season: the hottest months are June and July. In September, people start booking New Year's tours, but from December to early February, the off season begins. By the beginning of spring, orders for May tours begin to arrive. That is why, according to Voinov, a travel agency cannot be the only source of income. You can turn an agency from a side business into a main business only by opening at least three offices that will work together.

An entrepreneur from Zvenigorod, Nelya Kostyreva, devoted herself entirely to the agency: in order to open an office, she left her job at Sberbank. The launch of the agency in 2011 took only two and a half weeks: she quickly found an office, immediately received training and began selling tours. Starting investments amounted to 130 thousand rubles, most of which went to the purchase of office equipment and advertising (by the way, according to her, word of mouth turned out to be much more effective in the end). Average check on tours it is higher than on the network - 80-180 thousand rubles, but a year it sells not 250, as the head office promises, but only 70-80 tours.

Petersburger Vadim Voinov, the discovery cost much more - 400 thousand rubles, but he does not explain what these costs were made of. However, by the standards of the Northern capital, this is a small start-up capital. “I specifically choose types of business that do not require large expenses. With money, any fool can open a company, but without ... ”- Voinov laughs. He owns a music store and opened a travel agency for his girlfriend, who worked in one of the Well offices as a manager. “It was planned that she would deal with everything, but I, of course, helped in the opening and got so involved that now we are doing all the business together,” says Voinov.

According to the businessman, during the summer season the office experiences a real influx of clients. “My personal record is booking at 3:45 am,” says Vadim. In the high season, the agency receives up to 200-300 thousand rubles. arrived per month, selling about 100 tours, but in October they managed to sell only four tours. Most of the agency's regular clients are friends and relatives of Voinov, so he does not invest in advertising - he only leads groups on social networks.

What's going wrong

One of the main problems of the franchisee is the selection of employees. “It was impossible to find an adequate person who knows how to work with people and has a customer base: such specialists are in great demand,” says Roman Voinov. As a result, the businessman hired one manager at a rate of 10 thousand rubles. plus interest, he himself took up sales, often replacing a single employee.

Oksana Agzhitova found the training useless. In her opinion, the courses will help managers with experience, and beginners need a deeper dive into the topic. “Most of the guys were only in Egypt and Turkey and have no idea about other countries,” says Agzhitova. - And tourists are becoming more and more savvy and require a detailed story about the resort. Recently, for example, a client asked if he would be allowed into a hotel in an Arab country with smoked sausage.” Agzhitova herself, who has traveled to more than a dozen countries, decides such issues. Nelya Kostyreva, on the contrary, believes that only beginners need Well courses, and Vadim Voinov did not go to study at all: his girlfriend has sufficient experience in the tourism business.

Most entrepreneurs are happy that the head office rarely interferes with their work. “I occasionally contact the girls from technical support for booking issues, they are responsive and always help. For the rest, I prefer to figure it out myself, ”says Kostyreva. “In the end, it all depends on the director. I was not promised solutions to all problems and did not promise mountains of gold. What was promised famous brand, an online booking system, training and network-wide advertising - I got it, ”says Roman Voinov. But Vadim Voinov believes that he should receive more advice and technical assistance in order to justify the monthly deductions in favor of the company. He considers the Well-touradmin system inconvenient, and the site that the company creates for each office, “creepy”: “All the technical support is hopelessly outdated. I myself tried to pick this site, but as for me, it was easier to create a good page from scratch.

Tourism is a profitable and promising business area, which you will definitely not regret doing. This business will allow you to learn a lot of useful and important information, meet a lot of interesting and useful people, and also travel around the world inexpensively on "hot" trips. Consider how to open a travel agency from scratch and what you need for this.

Introduction

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

1. The tour operator makes his own route, books transport, hotels and solves all organizational issues.
2. The travel agency sells tours from tour operators, receiving a percentage for this.

Travel company is a great 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 how to start the opening procedure? With registration in the tax. You can register as an individual entrepreneur and as an LLC. IP allows you to save time and simplify the reporting system, but 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 your beloved dog, but this is unlikely to bring him popularity. It is better to choose something themed. You will also need to select a location, hire staff and launch an advertising campaign.

room

As an office, a small room of about 20 square meters with 2-3 employees is suitable for you - this is quite enough in most cases. It is better to choose an office in a crowded, passable place in the city center. Be sure to make a good repair in the room, install comfortable furniture, order a high-quality sign. Wealthy people who appreciate comfort and coziness book trips, so you should not save on comfortable armchairs and sofas.

For office equipment you only need computer equipment

Equip comfortable tables for your employees, buy computers, armchairs, various stationery, shelving, etc. You will also need a copier, printer and fax machine. Pay special attention to the Internet - the channel must be of high quality and stable.

The tourism business is a very popular service sector in our country. There are many options for doing it - from a home agency to a franchise.

In this article, we will analyze all possible options, highlight their advantages and disadvantages, answer the question of what it takes to open a travel agency, and give some useful tips.

Business pros and cons

When deciding to open a travel agency, you need to think carefully and calculate all the pros and cons of such a step.

The advantages and prospects of the venture include:

• a rapidly developing tourism business, which makes it possible to provide tourism services in many directions (in Russia, abroad, etc.), and as a result, the possibility of obtaining the corresponding profit;
• a wide choice of tour operators and the possibility of concluding contracts with one or several of them;
• a rapidly increasing flow of people who would like to use the services of agencies to organize their holidays;
• relatively simple execution of registration documents and opening a license.

The disadvantages and difficulties that may arise when opening such a business include:

• rapidly increasing competition in this area (in every city there are now at least a few travel agencies that provide services similar to yours);
• complex predictability of the client flow (depending on the success of the advertising campaign and the relevance of travel packages, the agency can, in a short time, acquire a stable client base, and not withstand the proposals of competitors and be left without customers);
• seasonality of profitability. It is generally accepted that the business is all-season due to the possibility of selling winter tours (for example, Courchevel and other ski resorts). However, actual data show that in summer the demand for the services of travel agencies is many times greater than the interest of customers in winter.

We draw up a business plan

As with starting any other business, you will need to write a business plan. scheduling prospects for further development and risks when opening a travel agency, it is necessary to take into account a number of fundamental factors that affect the success and profitability of the enterprise.

It is necessary to think over and calculate in as much detail as possible all possible risks, expenses, payback periods of initial investments, additional expenses in the process of promotion, as well as the estimated profit, based on the interest of the target audience.

The business plan should include the costs of:

• paperwork (registration, license to provide services, certificates, franchising);
• rent of office space;
• marketing campaigns, advertising;
• salary payments, including contributions to the tax service, pension fund, social insurance;
• ensuring the life of the office (including furniture, office equipment, stationery).

Also, it is necessary to roughly calculate the possible profit (calculated on the basis of general market monitoring in this area, seasonality, competition, marketing effectiveness of your company) and the risks associated with the unprofitability of the travel agency. Consider ways to address these risks.

Location

One of the main stages of opening a travel agency is choosing an office for rent. It is desirable to rent office space in the city center, in a location close to business centers. This will ensure that you have the opportunity to engage VIP clients, as well as draw more attention to yourself.

Also, it must be taken into account that for greater efficiency, it is desirable that there are no firms providing similar services in the building (on the same street) (exclusion of competition).

The rented office must have access to the Internet. It is better to give preference to buildings that have a separate exit to the street and a parking area for cars.

How to attract clients?

Given the high level of competition between travel agencies, securing a client base is one of the main priorities of a young organization.

If you have chosen a simple, but rather colorful and memorable name for your company, this can serve as an additional plus for promotion.

Also, do not forget about the effective way – « word of mouth". Before opening a travel agency, tell all your friends and acquaintances about your plans, make notes on your pages on social networks, in general, try to let as many people as possible know about your venture.

Schedule for its first customers the maximum possible discounts and interesting promotions(quite often these discounts are made even at a loss to the company and are written off to advertising expenses), try to ensure that the services provided are on highest level. In most cases, after successful trips, satisfied customers tell their surroundings about it, which motivates them to contact you.

Mandatory additional attributes should be business cards and prospectuses, which will indicate promotional offers that are superior in terms of competitors' offers.

Turning to the main marketing moves when promoting a travel agency, it is necessary to focus on on internet advertising. It can be like pop-up banners on the pages of visited sites or mail services(an agreement is concluded with the management of the sites on the allocation of a site on the page: the cost, the percentage of occupancy of the strip on their website, the frequency of appearances, the period of validity of the agreement are negotiated), and contextual advertising (when, when entering keywords in the line of the search service, it is your site that appears in key positions). These nuances must be discussed with the programmer who will develop your site.

Enough effective method customer acquisition is video marketing. You can make a video of the most interesting and frequently visited places in the proposed tours and post them on the Internet (for example, on Youtube). There is no need to use expensive equipment for shooting. These may be commercials filmed on amateur cameras, but the plot of commercials should convey emotionality. At the end of the video, a navigation block is placed, by clicking on which your potential customers will be able to get acquainted with the conditions and cost of purchasing vouchers in your agency.

The following video contains tips on opening an agency and attracting clients:

The nuances of opening an agency

If you would like to exclude additional costs and target relatively minimum investment, then it makes sense to think about the following options for opening a travel agency.

at home

To open a travel agency at home, you will first need to register your activity (company registration). After completing all the basic documents, it is best to conclude an agreement with a major tour operator.

When concluding a contract, try to avoid taking on obligations to ensure a fixed number of sold tours, focus on a simplified scheme: you provide clients to the main agency - the agency pays you a commission according to the work actually performed. This option does not provide for the cost of renting office space, which significantly reduces the cost of the project.

Online

The specifics of opening and developing an online tourism business can mean both office work and being at home, doing business from a home PC.

When registering your entrepreneurial activity you will need to indicate legal address enterprise and additionally fix the name of the official website through which the sale of vouchers (services) will be carried out. If the site provides for payment by bank transfer, as a rule, it is also necessary to register a company account to which transfers will be made.

franchise

You can turn to a well-known tour operator for help in establishing a company and conclude a franchise cooperation agreement with him. As a rule, the cost of a franchise directly depends on the popularity of the franchisor and the conditions under which more big company will grant you a franchise.

In this case, you will receive additional information support and financial insurance from the parent organization and exclude additional advertising costs.

How much does it cost to open a travel agency

Depending on the conditions under which you plan to open a travel agency, you will need to calculate the amount of future costs.

As a rule, the most expensive thing is renting an office and purchasing everything you need for it (furniture, office equipment, etc.). The cost of rent may vary on average from 30,000 to 60,000 rubles(it all depends on the proximity of the office to the city center, its general condition: repair, availability of communications and the conditions on which the lease agreement is concluded).

Registration of the main necessary documentation during registration (registration of an LLC and a license) can cost you from 8,000 to 12,000 rubles.

In the event that a travel agency will be opened under the auspices of a franchisor, it is necessary to take into account the costs of concluding a franchise agreement.

In most cases, the contract is paid as a one-time payment. However, over time, additional clauses and conditions may be included in it, which may change the value of the originally agreed price.

Also, the priority expenditure part includes the remuneration of employees and the corresponding monthly deductions to state funds for each of them. Usually, at the start, the accountant is not included in the staff, and the number of employees varies from 3 to 5-6 people (including the director). Medium wage fluctuates in the tourism industry from 12,000 rubles and more, depending on the type of mutual settlements: constant rate, rate + percentage, only percentage. It must be taken into account that according to the Labor Code, payment must be timely, therefore it is desirable that the amount for its payments be deferred for several months in advance.

Don't forget about marketing costs promotions. This item should include the cost of printing promotional items(business cards, leaflets, printed price lists, etc.), payment for the creation of a website and its promotion (updating information, hosting). As a rule, all these investments are at least 30,000 rubles. If you are planning a large-format discount system as an opportunity to promote the travel agency and attract more customers, this amount can be increased significantly.

If you wish, you can use television, while it is better to focus on city TV channels. The cost of advertising airtime varies by region, but on average, you can count on the cost 15,000-30,000 rubles when broadcasting a video several times a day. The cost of the video itself will cost you from 12,000-20,000 rubles(without sophisticated special effects, but with the involvement of a professional cameraman and editing, cutting shots).

Also, there may be additional costs for logistics, any unforeseen expenses, payment of penalties and much more.

In general, if you have calculated all possible costs and risks and after monitoring the market in the provision of travel agency services have come to the conclusion that your company will compete with existing companies, feel free to get down to business!