Opening a travel agency from scratch documents. How to open a travel agency from scratch on a franchise. Additional possible costs

Who among us would not like to see the world and visit the most remote and exotic corners of the earth? The love of travel is not alien to anyone. Perhaps that is why, even in the most economically unstable times, most people still had opportunities and financial resources for the long awaited trip. Thanks to this, you can organize for yourself a reliable and very profitable way to earn money - open a travel agency from scratch. How to do this, we will explain further by providing step by step instructions with helpful tips.

Where to begin?

The essential advantages of the type of business associated with tourism are relatively low investments, as well as the absence of the need for special education. By not needing any special permits, you can avoid many of the barriers to opening a travel agency. However, it is worth noting that the competition in this area is still quite high, and the profit you will receive depends on the economic situation in the country. Nevertheless, it is quite realistic to open a travel agency from scratch even during the economic crisis.

In order to understand in detail the legal side of the issue, you should refer to the law N 132-FZ of November 24, 1996 “On the basics of tourism activities in the Russian Federation”. Depending on the specifics of your activity, external and internal tourism differs. Services related to this industry are provided by tour operators and travel agents. Let us consider in more detail how these concepts differ.

The duties of tour operators include independent development, promotion and subsequent implementation of tours. Thus, using its services, the tourist can reach the destination and safely return home without experiencing any inconvenience during the trip. That is why in order to open professional activity they will be required to have insurance or a guarantee from the bank. Tour operators must be included in the Unified Federal Register, as well as be members of the necessary associations.

In turn, travel agents are a kind of link, an intermediary between the tour operator and the client. They are in the business of selling tours; while their earnings are commission payments (from 5 to 16% of the cost of each tour).

The travel agent must also:

1. Inform customers about the services provided.
2. Select tours depending on the wishes of the client.
3. Provide customers with all the necessary documents.
4. Ensure the quality of all services provided.

Depending on the size of the initial capital and the plans of the entrepreneur, travel agencies can exist in various forms.

To open travel company from scratch, we will need to rent an office, as well as hire all the necessary staff. Despite the fact that this method is the most expensive, it will provide you with maximum financial independence.

The easiest way to open a travel agency at home. In order to start this type of business, all you need is a phone, a computer, Internet access and a printer. After you register an IP, you can start promoting your services with the help of the media. In addition, you can organize meetings with interested parties both at home and in neutral territory (for example, in a cafe). This way of opening a travel agency is quite risky, but it is perfect for people with a wide circle of contacts and considerable professional experience.

Travel agency is considered a relatively easy business, even if it is a newcomer to this field. By opening a franchise business () or on your own, you can grab your market share even with a superficial analysis of competition. But advertising and thinking through a system for working with a client to return him is a significant part of the costs.

Choosing the scope of the travel agency

In the tourism direction of services, there are two areas:

• travel operators;
• travel agents.

The work of the first is to deal with the organizational issues of travel:

• Reservation of tickets in one or two directions for a certain period;
• Reservation of places in a hotel or hotel;
• Delivery of goods and escort of tourists to their destination;
• Organization of excursions;
• Additional services.

Obviously, operators are a large-scale business, often unable to withstand competition. Another thing is travel agents. Their work includes:

• Sale ready-made services;
• Cooperation with tour operators;
• Communication between the tourist and the tour operator;
• Providing discounts to tourists.

Travel agencies may well be the business of one person, and therefore much less investment will be required compared to opening a tour operator company.

Opening an independent company

The simplest agency format is an independent firm. Usually this is an enterprise of two people and an incoming accountant. Travel agency is enough:

1. Develop a logo and corporate identity;
2. Establish relationships with suitable tour operators;
3. Choose an office;
4. Hire employees;
5. Run ads.

Depending on the size of the city, you can manage on your own and periodically invite an accountant. The manager, who simultaneously manages the company, receives calls, registers vouchers and controls the trips of tourists, being in touch with the tour operator.

Opening a franchise company

The work of a franchise organization is the registration of a company according to the pattern of a large-scale network business. The peculiarity of a franchise company is that the entrepreneur enters into an agreement with the tourist network and acts under the agreement. A quick start and network connections give an easier profit, but at the same time they limit the independence of actions - everything, up to the design of the office and the course of advertising, is subject to the contract.

Despite the limited choice in doing business, using a franchise network is convenient and often the right decision.

The advantages are too obvious and suitable for newcomers to the field:

• The company immediately has a brand that does not need to be spent and thought through, which means that the company is easy to recognize, and it already has a certain trust among customers;
• The travel agency will immediately have promotional materials for advertising, and this is also a significant part of the costs that can be avoided by using a franchise brand;
• The network provides software for registration of tours, which facilitates and automates the process;
• The firm will always have informational support of the network in case of questions.

In the case of choosing a franchise, the network usually has courses that you can take even before registering as a business, which is useful if you need to learn about the pitfalls of a business.

The idea of ​​organizing your business in the field of tourism can be profitable investment funds. All over the world in this moment the demand for such services is growing, and the fact that small investment money, you can eventually make a significant profit, attracts novice businessmen to engage in just this type of activity. How to open a travel agency from scratch so that it is profitable and quickly pays off the invested funds - we will analyze in detail all the necessary steps for its formation and prosperity.

How to start organizing

So how do you start a travel business? The first step should be to draw up a business plan that will contain all necessary actions on its organization, as well as the miscalculation of the necessary investments, the projected payback period and the amount of monthly profit.

Step-by-step instructions on how to open a travel agency contains the following items:

• analysis of market saturation and the possibility of opening in a particular region;
• obtaining information about existing competitors, their main advantages and disadvantages;
• registration as a private enterprise or LLC;
• choosing the location of the agency's office, drawing up a lease agreement, buying premises or deciding to place the agency itself at home;
• determination of the main types of services provided;
• acquisition of the necessary org. appliances and furniture;
• search and recruitment of personnel;
• conclusion of contracts with tour operators;
• organization of advertising;
• opening.

Consider the most significant stages of how to open a travel agency from scratch in Russia.

Tourist infrastructure

Registration and paperwork

Registration of a travel agency includes the following steps:

1. choice organizational form(this could be like individual – individual entrepreneur, and legal - most often LLC);
2. choice suitable name company and legal address;
3. the registration process, after which you will be issued a government certificate;
4. purchase cash register, its registration and execution at the place of provision of services.

In the event that, having wondered how to organize a tourism business from scratch, you choose the form of management of an LLC, then you will need to determine the size of the authorized capital, as well as formalize the founders. The minimum amount of the authorized capital must be at least 10 thousand rubles and is subject to distribution among the founders of the LLC.

Room location

How to open a travel agency from scratch to attract as many people as possible to it potential buyers? One of the answers to this question is the convenient and advantageous location of your office. The main options that will be most beneficial for you are the following:

• in high traffic areas. These may be areas in which organizations are located, other offices - the city center, its more lively areas. On the one hand, in such places, office rent is more expensive than in less crowded places, but then you have to spend more funds for business advertising;
• inside the shopping center. This option is also very beneficial in terms of a large flow of people. In addition, it can cost you less than renting a separate building or premises;
• in sleeping areas. The flow of people in such places is somewhat less, but by renting a room near public transport stops or facing a busy road, it is quite possible to ensure that your company will be in sight. Then the presence of those wishing to use the services will be considerable;
• most budget option The location of the office is its organization at home. How to open a travel agency at home, is it really possible? Recently, when using the Internet you can get acquainted with the services of various companies, discuss by phone aspects of what kind of vacation the client prefers, this option is often used by novice businessmen. Of course, for this you still need to allocate in your house or apartment separate room by equipping it accordingly. As practice shows, this option, with skillfully organized advertising and other marketing moves, can generate income even more than those firms that pay expensive rent for an office in the city center.

Services provided

One of the first and milestones The process of how to open your own travel agency from scratch is the choice of the direction of the type of activity, as well as the range of services provided. The list of possible ones included in the package of tourist services is as follows:

• organization of delivery of the client to the place of rest (air flight, travel by car, etc.);
• delivery from the place of arrival to the hotel (transfer);
• resolving issues related to hotel accommodation and, in particular, food;
• organization of related services (excursions, additional events);
• delivery of the client to the station (airport) and back to the place of departure.

The tourism business itself can have the following directions:

• excursion tours;
• tours aimed at rest or recreation of children;
• beach vacation;
• organization of treatment (mainly preventive direction);
• business tours;
• shopping tours;
• educational trips;
• gastronomic tours.

It is worth noting that your future travel agency as a business will get the more opportunities for its profitability, the more services you can provide. This is mainly due to the fact that in this way the circle increases. potential clients. At the same time, do not forget about the quality of your work - positive reviews people who have used the services of your company can be good advertising in the future.

Having chosen a room for the location of the office, first of all, it will be necessary to repair and decorate it (if necessary). At the same time, it is important to remember that the services of travel agencies are mainly used by wealthy people, and comfort and cozy atmosphere are very important for them. You can add some elements of company attributes, photos of countries and places that your client can visit to the interior of the agency.

From furniture and office equipment you will need the following:

• tables and chairs for company employees;
• computers or laptops;
• printer (this can be a monoblock that combines the functions of a printer, scanner and fax);
• telephone;
• stationery;
• Internet equipment. It is worth noting that in the work of a travel agency, the speed of the Internet is very important, as well as its constant availability, because most of the operations performed by the company's employees will be carried out with the help of it;
• furniture for clients. For starters, it could be comfortable sofa, armchairs and table.

Resort hotel

Recruitment

After equipping everything necessary for working in the premises and carrying out repairs, you can begin to recruit staff.

When dealing with the question of how to become a travel agent at home, you may not even hire employees at first, providing services in person. In this case, you can somewhat reduce the cost of buying furniture for employees, and, as an option, use the one available in the house if it is of good quality and condition.

One of the important points of the question of how to become a travel agent from scratch is the selection of personnel who can most profitably present the services provided by your company and convince the person who comes to you to become a client. In this regard, when selecting employees, the following points should be considered:

1. if possible, employ people who already have experience in this field - such a person will not need to be additionally trained and explained the principle of work;
2. future employees of the company should look neat, communicate politely, competently and correctly;
3. employees of your travel agency should be fluent in computer programs, be a confident Internet user.

After the selection of employees, it will be necessary to officially employ them by concluding employment contracts with them.

Conclusion of contracts with tour operators

An equally important point on how to open your own travel agency from scratch is the conclusion of agreements with tour operators.

One of distinguishing features travel agency from a tour operator is that the agency, when providing services and selling ready-made tours to customers, already offers a ready-made package - that is, it cooperates only with a tour operator. The tour operator is in contact with hotels, airports, railway stations, tour agencies and in case of any violations of the contract (provision of improper services, inconsistency of the declared service with the actual one, problems with the delivery of customers), it is he who bears legal responsibility.

As a rule, it is better to conclude contracts with several operators that offer trips to different parts of the world and will satisfy any age category of customers and will meet their financial capabilities.

After you start working, when you sell a certain tour, you will return its cost to the tour operator, and receive direct profit from the sales margin. The markup in most travel agencies is about 10-15% of the cost of the tour and, as a rule, this is quite enough to recoup the investment and receive a monthly income.

Marketing activities and ways to increase income

Having considered the main points of what is needed to open a travel agency, one cannot fail to mention the need for marketing moves that consist in advertising and promoting your business. Of these, the following are worth noting:

• advertising in the media - television, radio, printed editions(especially pay attention to popular magazines);
• outdoor advertising. This is primarily the design of the facade of your office space, a bright sign that glows at night, you can also install billboards and banners in other areas of the city;
• Internet advertising. Except everyone options online advertising, it is imperative to create your own website, one that will contain all the necessary information for customers - a list of possible tours, their basic conditions, payment, organizational issues. It would be nice to separately provide the opportunity to write reviews about the work, because the comments of grateful customers will help attract even more people who want to use your services;
• providing regular customers with discounts and bonuses;
• control over the quality of services provided and prompt response to problems that have arisen in order to quickly solve them and, as a result, receive positive emotions vacationers.

Depending on the range of services provided, the number of clients, the presence of branches, the monthly profit can start from 50 thousand rubles per month, and its upper threshold will depend only on the efforts you have made in developing the business.

As practice shows, capital investments in the organization and opening of a travel agency pay off in less than one year.

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 the expert of the Sletat.ru company.

Tourism, despite all the difficulties experienced recently, remains an extremely attractive business area. It gives you the opportunity to open your own business with little investment and is associated with a lot of positive emotions: helping people have a rest, and then hearing their positive impressions is very nice. And yet, the tourist industry is a tough nut to crack. In order not to break spears about him, or rather not to lose all the money, you need to take a very balanced and serious approach to opening your travel agency.

Where to begin?

First of all, it is necessary to find out how the tourist market is arranged and what it consists of. The business owner must decide whether to work with a franchisor or as an independent agency. By opening yourself, 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 the issues of acquiring technologies related to the search and booking of tours. And thirdly, it is more difficult to work with tour operators - suppliers of a tourist product.

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

Franchise network travel agencies can be divided into main categories, each of which has its own branches.

1. Travel agencies from tour operators whose task is to sell the tourist product of this supplier. Obviously, a tour operator can only offer low-cost tours to some destinations, so such a travel agency may not be profitable enough in the end.
2. Travel agencies that receive traffic from offline channels. Such agencies are not limited in the choice of tour providers. Their disadvantage is the weak development of Internet technologies.
3. Travel agencies that receive traffic from online channels. More modern networks that attract audiences using the Internet and own various online tools for finding, booking and selling tours. Minus - such a network misses the "classic" offline audience.
4. 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, with the help of modern technologies sell the most cost-effective tours and put this process on stream.

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

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

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

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

Investment size

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

How more city, the higher the amount of investment in rent. The rental rate in 2016 averages about 1.5–2 thousand rubles per 1 sq. m. m, but in Moscow and St. Petersburg it may be slightly higher - an average of 2.5 to 4 thousand rubles. In this way, minimum volume rental costs will be about 30-60 thousand rubles.

Personal experience

For high-quality customer service and minimizing queues in the office, it is optimal for two managers to work at the same time. To accommodate two workplaces and a comfortable waiting area, you need a room with an area of ​​15 sq.m.

Do not forget that the room is likely to 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 comfortable atmosphere for customers and managers and increases the loyalty of tourists to the brand as a whole.

With regard to the cost of furniture and appliances, there is a large 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 duty, open a bank account (for which the bank will charge a commission), recruit staff, register employees in labor inspectorate and pension fund. If not strict reporting forms (BSO) are used, but a cash desk, then it needs to 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, appliances and repairs) will be about 150-200 thousand rubles.

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

Among fixed costs travel agencies - wage fund 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 of salary + 10-20% of the agency's profit. If we are talking about a small town, then the ratio will be 10-15 thousand rubles of salary + 10-20% of profit.

At the same time, when calculating the volume of investments, one must firmly understand that in the first six months the agency can work without profit. And this means that some kind of financial "cushion" is needed. Therefore, you should not invest your last funds in business. Also, the entrepreneur needs to understand how he himself will live. Money should not be associated with its current costs, a clear budget allocated for business development is needed.

Step-by-step instruction

On the initial stage travel agency development important point- promotion. For it to work the best way, you need to understand which channels to attract tourists are most effective in a particular case.

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

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

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

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

Personal experience

People spend a lot of time in in social networks and don't want to leave comfortable space. In contact with,Facebookand other similar sites - a modern, popular and budget channel for attracting tourists. Sletat.ru has developed a special module for searching tours in social networks. Thus, the tourist can search for tours where it is convenient for him, and from there send applications for the selected tours.

If you have opened an agency in a small town, it makes sense to go to the audience in the city-forming enterprises, negotiate with their management and leisure department, offer employees to participate in interesting events, etc. Remember that tourism is not limited to foreign destinations, you can also sell domestic ones. They are well suited to “accustom” the audience to themselves in particular and to trips through travel agencies in general, gradually transferring customers to foreign package tours.

Having decided on the format of work, a place to open and promotion channels, you need to start looking for managers. To determine how many people you need in the state, you need to understand how big your client base and how many people will come to the office. Most often, 1-2 managers work in a travel agency. One of them attracts clients, calls, invites to the office, processes applications, the other sells tours in the office, works with incoming tourists, leads further work on sale. 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 transaction, it is necessary to maintain communication with them.

Businessmen should not take on the sale of tours on their own. An entrepreneur must think strategically, promote the travel agency, follow developments, see what the business lacks, and so on. If you go headlong into the sale of tours, then it will be impossible to manage the business.

In a modern travel agency, it is important to automate the processes associated with the search and booking of tours and the processing of 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 site of every self-respecting tour operator. In this case, the manager will actually have to work manually, open many sites and tabs to find a suitable tour from different providers, 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 time for managers. When choosing such a service, you need to be careful: it can “limp” relevance and reliability. The system should download and update information about the composition of the package and its price online, instantly update data on places in the hotel and on the flight.

Personal experience

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

Another important point is booking a tour. It is much more convenient when the agency does not communicate with tour operators on its own, but uses the services of a booking 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 bases and provides a higher percentage of sales and additional bonuses when fulfilling the plan.

The issue of accommodation of 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 good option- office in the city center. However, this does not always guarantee success, as well as 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 on a mortgage and do not have extra money for travel. Therefore, try to choose areas of the middle and elite class for accommodation.

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

It is also worth looking at the surroundings. For example, you can open next to grocery store. This does not have to be an establishment of a well-known network, but you should focus on price segment above average.

Another tip: it is best to open where it is possible 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 just 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 desirable that the office be square shape: so it will be easier to brand and create in it comfortable conditions. 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.

Do not open on the upper floors. If the building has an access system, it should not be complicated. If a tourist, in order to purchase a tour or get documents, needs to take a passport, write down his data and go up to the 11th floor, then he is more likely to refuse the trip altogether - few people want to overcome so many obstacles.

It is advisable to provide a waiting area in the office. When all managers are busy, the customer should be able to wait in line comfortably. Otherwise, he will simply go to another agency. In the waiting area it is worth placing coffee, tea, a cooler with clean water.

Another important point is the children's corner. One of the key client types of the travel agency is a 30-35 year old woman with one child. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide play area, where children can do something while parents choose a tour or wait their turn.

The documents

To start a travel agency, you need to register an LLC or IP. Everyone chooses the preferred form for himself, it is only necessary to make a reservation that the owner of a registered IP is liable for obligations with all his property, and LLC - in the amount of the authorized capital. Also to the owner tourism business it is necessary to decide: with imputed or simplified system taxation it will work.

Many are confused by the issue of licensing a travel agency. Previously, in order to sell tours, a travel agency really needed to obtain a license. But on current rules no licensing required. At the same time, a unified all-Russian register was created for travel agencies on the basis of the Turpomoshch Association. It is not yet clear whether participation in it is mandatory or the registry is advisory in nature. This issue should be clarified by additions and amendments to the law on tourism, which was released in 2016.