12 STEPS TO START YOUR OWN TRAVEL AGENCY

INTRODUCTION 

The overall need to travel is shared amongst average and cooperate citizens alike, in the industry today travel services experts offer a wide array of valuable and time-saving services to individuals, groups and cooperate clients.  Besides acting as ticketing agents for the airlines, they also offer exotic services to customers, advice on how to get passport, visa and tour packages.

HOW TO START A TRAVEL AGENCY

As an experience travel agent it is important to keep in mind that the success of a travel business depends heavily on the strength of the economy, so you can expect to experience ups and downs.

Starting a travel business involve lot of money, when considering to base the business out of your home, because this can be a way to keep overhead to a minimum.  A strong internet connection is key to its success, also the need for airline schedules and travel packages in other to make travel arrangements for clients.

1.     Prospective Clients

No matter which type of travel service you choose to start, you will find that your clients will come from many backgrounds and from across socio-economic lines.

So Have Adequate Client Knowledge: In learning how to start a travel agency business, you should know that there are two main markets you should target. The first market includes consumers and customers that travel. The second market is the business or corporate category.

• Specialty Travel Services-: This kind of travel agency provides service to a selected category of people. For instance a travel agency might choose education as its niche and only provide travel assistance to people travelling abroad for educational purposes. They may help with admission, student visas, accommodation, job placements and similar services for students. Other niches include maternity travel for pregnant women, business travel, vacation, destination wedding services to mention few.

• Corporate Travel Services-: Some companies have departments that take care of travel arrangements for its staff and visitors but due to the recent downsizing that most companies had to do because of the economic recession, a lot of companies now outsource this service to other companies. Corporate travel agents handle inbound and outbound travel services for corporate organizations.

You also need to know the category of people that use travel and tour companies so as to understand who your clients would be and how you would reach them. Most of the people who make use of travel and tour services are-:

•  Families
•  Honeymooners
•  Singles
•  Students
• Students who want to go on excursions or for summer vacations.
• People travelling for vacation.
• Special groups going on tours like religious groups, clubs and social groups.
• Businessmen and women visiting other countries for business.
• People needing visa who are relocating due to a change of job or other circumstances.

2.     Earning Potentials

Having so many people potentially clamoring for a service, you would think growing in the industry will hit a climax easily.   But the reality is, it takes time to build a clientele, and as a result your earnings could be a little low in the beginning.  For this reason, travel industry experts recommend working strategically sometimes introducing low price fares, visa packages, travel insurance etc., to win over clients interest in their patronage for these service(s).  As you know, today’s travel services earn their living from two sources: Commissions paid by travel – related bookings and service fee charged to end – user (client).  On the commission front, the Industry standard is 8, 10 – 15 percent of the net cost of the ticket product, although this is relatively high/low.

3.     Types of Services

• Creating itineraries and travel schedules that mesh with clients interests
• Booking airline tickets and reserving seats
• Reserving hotels and other accommodations
• Arranging for rental vehicles and other ground transportation
• Creating specialty tour packages and possibly serving as the tour leader
• Offering travel insurance
•  Advising clients about passport/visa requirements

No matter which types of services you decide to offer, there are certain tasks you can expect to do regularly, if not daily, in the course of running your new business.  In addition to booking airlines and reserving hotel rooms, both of which are the mainstays of a travel business, such tasks include: either by phone, online or in person, you will find out where your clients want to go, what they want to see ‘if such trip entails tour’ and what they want, then determine whether you will have the right product or service available to fulfill those needs.  Other pertinent info you will want to gather include how they want to travel (Class, Preferred Airline and City of travel) how long they will want to stay, when they want to go, how many people will be traveling, and whether there are any seniors or children who might qualify for travel discounts.

4.           Write down your business plan

Writing down your plan will assist in providing you a solid foundation, and will assist you also to secure fund from investors if you require additional capital to begin your business.

5.           Check your state and local government guidelines to start a travel agency

Based on where you reside, you may have to file the necessary paperwork so as to be able to legally carryout your business. You will also need to file the appropriate paperwork to become legally incorporated in your state and L.G.A.

6.           Register your business-: After you have chosen the type of Travel and Tour Company you want to start from the ones listed above, you should register your business with relevant authorities before you commence.

We all know the importance of registering a business, before you proceed with registration of your company, you have to ensure that a name is available to be registered and in many cases you may have to pick several names in other to find one approved which is quit tedious.

The process to register your company name is being handled by the C.A.C  (Co-operate Affairs Commission), which majorly requires several procedures to get it completed, and this process can take up to two to three months or more. You may either choose to register a Business Name (BN) or Limited Liability Company (LTD).  But for travel agency business LTD, is suggested.

7.           Equip your office-: 

Whether you choose to operate from home as an affiliate or you want to float your own company, you would need some office equipment like a telephone, computer, fax machine, internet connection, files and cabinets, tables and chairs and other things that you would need to perform your job smoothly.

8.           Open two bank accounts

The first account should be for your business as an independent travel agent, where all your track funds coming in to and as well going out of the business will be kept while the other account should keep hold of all the money that your clients will provide to book their trips.

9.           Look for companies you will work with

Contact various travel companies to negotiate package deals you can offer or to determine the kind of referral commissions you can be earning. When you are dealing or are in business with more than one company, you can get more to offer your clients and this can provide you with additional money.

10.      Join organizations and societies specifically for travel agents

Next, you would have to register with professional bodies like International Air Transport Association (IATA) or work with an agency that is already licensed. This license would enable you obtain airline tickets on behalf of your clients. You can also join the Nigeria Society of Travel Agents (NSTA), or the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (NACTA). If possible, you can join the three to boost your business largely. These organizations and societies can maximize your visibility to consumers along with your credibility as an agent.

11.      Network with other travel agencies

Get connected to a travel agency that can serve as your connection between the airlines, accommodations and cruise lines. Once these connections are available, you can acquire additional time to make many connections in the industry.

12.   Advertise your business-: The most important thing in this business is not registering your business or having a fancy office. The most important thing is getting clients to patronize you. You can get clients through the following means-:

•  Advertising in Newspapers and Magazines.
•  Having a Search Engine Optimized website.
•  Purchasing Marketing leads and Making cold calls.
• Getting listed on business directories.
• Sending Proposals to corporate organizations.

You should consider taking a few business courses so you can learn more about how to begin and maintain your business more efficiently and effectively. These courses are available nationwide at local community colleges and online. Any fees paid to participate or to be enrolled in the course are tax deductible as a business expense.

Website

Pretty much every business owner needs to have a website these days, and it needs to be fresh and updated regularly so it continues to attract traffic.  You may decide to use a contract web designer/administrator to look after your site, you may also be able to do updating yourself.  Additionally, if your site is your travel business, you will need to check e-mail often to keep up with requests for information, brochures and those all – important travel reservations.

Get Certified

It is necessary to get certified to be fully involved in the industry.  To operate as a travel agency there are two ways to it:

• Operate as an IATA Certified Agency
• Operate as Non-IATA Certified Agency

How IATA Travel Agency Operates

• Being an IATA Accredited agent this gives an access to approximately 250 IATA airline members using a single standard Sales Agency Agreement.  Authorisation to sell international and/or domestic tickets on behalf of the airlines, Access to IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), and BSPlink that together provide a single standard interface for invoicing and payment between the agent and multiple airlines and transport providers. This allows the agency to have a Global travel industry recognition through an IATA Numeric Code that provides a unique identifier for the agent.

 

How Non-IATA Travel Agency Operates

• As the name suggests, non-IATA travel agents are agents who are not accredited with the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA is considered to be one of the most basic resources for a travel agent because most airline bookings are done through the IATA portal.

• In order to book from IATA, the travel agent must get registered with IATA as an IATA travel agent. However, it is also possible to buy and sell tickets without getting affiliated with IATA. All travel agents who do so are known as non-IATA travel agents. These agents either purchase tickets from other IATA travel agencies or from the airline. 

Non-IATA travel agents have had a major impact on the travel business, and their numbers have constantly grown over the years. In the traditional sense, a non-IATA travel agency basically functions by collecting orders, sending the booking to IATA travel agencies and forwarding the booked tickets to the customer.

Location

Your business's location is key to successful operations and overall growth. When choosing your location, consider company needs and customers needed to complete the services.
  
  i.      Customer Convenience

Travel business is design to draws customers to it location, the business site must be convenient to the customer. The location must be easily accessible and provide the customer with a feeling of safety upon their arrival and exit.

     ii.            Service and Sales

Travel agency business requires adequate service and sales opportunities because it has the tendency to greatly affect boost in sales. A selected location should center on your target customers and should generate walk-in traffic.

Start-up Cost

It is critical to plan and determine your budgetary needs.  There is no universal method for estimating your startup costs, since every business is different, and requires its own cash needs at different stages of development.

We will determine what it will cost for this being specific type of venture, travel agency set up cost requires huge funding to build.  Since costing is essential in every business this cannot be left out, so let’s give a clue to it and areas of focus.

Estimating Startup Costs (budgetary needs)

• Incorporating your business

• Renting a space for the business

• Office Equipment’s

• Promotional materials

• Advertising