How to Open an Air Travel & Tourism Agency

If you love traveling to faraway destinations and enjoy planning every facet of your holiday weeks in advance, then you may have dreams of turning this passion into a career. Assisting others in planning the vacation of their dreams can be a highly rewarding experience, as your clients will rely on your expertise and advice every step of the way. Furthermore, you can help travelers discover attractions near to their destination that they never knew existed or enhance their vacation by suggesting relaxing or cultural points of interest.

Instructions

1




Featuring places you have traveled to before can help you serve your clients better.

Research major hotels, tours and local attractions as well as round-trip travel options for the destinations you intend to feature. It may be prudent to feature the places where you and your colleagues have already traveled. This helps you give your clients the most accurate portrayal of the destination and insights about the best places to visit.

2

Determine a demography for your clientele and advertise to suit that category. For instance, if you wish to provide individualized flight packages and five-star hotel booking services, advertising to upper-class clients will allow you access to the greatest number of clients.

3

Contact your local Department of Commerce's Business Services Center to determine whether or not you need to apply for a business license. Even if you intend to run your tourism agency as an Internet business from home, some states still require you to hold a license.

4

Find funding for your agency. As opening a business comes with many attached fees, this may be important even for those who have accumulated large savings. You will need to consider your business's location, utilities, advertising, travel booking fees as well as the cost of maintaining a staff.

5

Hire well-traveled staff members to ensure that your clients receive the best possible service from your company. You may wish to hire people who have traveled to places where you have not in order to expand on your company's featured travel locations.

6

Write up a list of company policies for you and your staff to follow. This may include things such as "No refunds on travel deposits," as many airlines will not refund tickets once you have purchased them. This just ensures that all members of staff follow the same rules, providing clients a uniform quality of experience.

7




Don't let your clients get stuck with a poor exchange rate.

Arrange for a currency exchange service. Most currency exchange services abroad charge a steep commission, which is something that you may wish to warn your clients about. If you provide an exchange service as part of your international travel packages, you will ensure yourself more repeat customers due to the quality of service you provide.

8

Devise and provide a checklist to your clients before they begin their travel and tailor it to their trip. You want them to have the best time that they possibly can, so that they recommend your service to others. Furthermore, you don't want them to call you to say that no one told them about the massive mosquitoes in Tunisia.