Home Based Travel Agency Business

Simple Tips to open your Online Travel Agency

Not so long ago, Travelling used to be for leisure activities or spending quality time with your loved ones. In this era, travelling has become a part of life. Travelling majorly means business trips and taking a break from a hectic schedule. Though bookings can be done online on your own with less hassle, people still tend to rely on travel agents when it comes to knotty multi city bookings and procedures for visa.

Why should you choose Travel industry online?

The Travel industry is one of the best industries to work with and work for. Travel industry represents 1 in every 10 jobs. It’s one industry where you would require working online and still make same profits as a shop based travel agent would. The best part of online travel agency is that you can work full-time or part-time, whatever suits your convenience. Managing online travel agency can be gratifying only when you know what you are doing.

What do Online Travel Agents do?

The basic job of any online travel agent would be to give out information on flights, accommodations, car rentals and much more.To start with, the first purpose of any online travel agency would be booking flights. Tourists mainly take help of online travel agencies to search for cheapest flights. The better the discount the more you make profits. There are thousands of online travel agencies who claim they are the best in market giving the most discounts. An online travel agent would need to make a strategy to gain popularity. Once people know your brand it becomes easier for you to sell.

Next would be Accommodation. If people are travelling to a different city/state/country, they are bound to stay at some place. Not all of them have friends and relatives at all places. So here arises the need for hotels. Partner up with as many hotels worldwide and start creating the most beneficial packages. There are many Hotel and Package Reservations agencies online that provide benefits like access to worldwide hotel distribution network, discounts starting from 50% to 80%, priority bookings for online travel agents, guaranteed commissions, flexible payment terms, discounts on group bookings and etc.
Transport is the next important thing on an online travel agency’s list. Taking care of car rentals, bus bookings and train bookings is the primary job. Airport transfers should also be considered.

Advise on weather conditions, clothes to carry, must-watch places, shopping places, restaurants, tourist attractions, time differences can be kept on the website so that it becomes easier for customers to find everything under one roof.

Also providing information on mandatory documents, custom regulations and currency exchange rates, if visiting a different country, will make things easier for customers.

One thing that can’t be left out is Travel Insurance. Customers do not have much understanding of this type of insurance. It’s a travel agents duty to give out as much information as required to the customers. Making them aware of the unforeseen events and how travel insurance helps is the key role. Travel insurance will cover any medical emergencies, theft/loss of money or passports, any nature acts or terrorism and flight cancellations.

Do you need a License to start your own online travel agency?

Now comes the most interesting part. Well it’s beyond belief for many to know that Online Travel Agency does not require any license or certification. However there are always country wise regulations that ought to be followed. In India, you need to have business licenses required by the Government.

Do you need to have a Host Agency?

You can work independently or work for any big agency. The agency that you would work for is called the Host Agency. Any host agency would charge a percentage of commission from the sales generated. Some host agencies can charge a flat fee. You can decide whether you need a host agency by taking into consideration the factors like the investment, business plan, time you intend to give to your work and more so the Liabilities.

To conclude with, Online Travel Agency is one business where you can work without having an actual office. All you need is in-depth knowledge of what you are selling. As an online travel agent you will deal with customers mostly over the phone and through email. So you need to be a really good communicator.

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I need a License to start your own online travel agency