Tips on Starting a Travel Agency

Today I am going to try to answer some of the questions you may have about Starting your Travel agency.

Starting a travel agency could be a daunting task and there are various options before taking a leap of faith.

IATA certification

IATA certification is necessary for registration of a travel agency .The course consists of an introduction to the Travel industry, fares, Airlines codes, Country codes, World airports, Capital cities etc All this is important to become a successful travel agent and expand your horizon into travel related products like Airlines, Hotels, Packages, Cruises, Tours etc .A person who has been in travel industry for a year or 2 can easily add a feather to their cap. Don’t forget to check IATA need for travel agencies in your country. 

Travel Agency Experience

At least 5 Years experience in a Travel Agency or Airlines is essential .You should learn from all the different departments in the airlines or a travel agencies to get an idea of day-to-day administration, Ticketing ,GDS, Types of fares ,Debit memos, airline policies Etc. Since travel is a dynamic career and you should always be ready for changes that may happen in the industry and keep updating yourself to replicate the same in your start up.

Find a Consolidator

Tie up with a Consolidator for airlines to get commissions from consolidator like Akbar travels or Ria travel .You can sign a contract with them for airfares . You could also do the same for hotels, cars, tours Etc. Airlines sells to consolidator for a commission and they pass this commission to the Travel agents and when the travel agent sells to the clients they keep a part of that commission and normally the price given by the travel agent is less than the airlines website or travel website.

GDS Knowledge

You need to have hands-on experience of at least one of the main GDS namely like Sabre, Apollo, Amadeus, Travel port or World span. This helps to book different combination or multiple tickets on the same travel itinerary. It offers loads of services that are not available on a website.

World Geography

Geography is very important for a Travel agent .The Travel agent should know the all the airlines for a particular country and all the routes it takes to arrive a destination .Around the world fares are flights spanning the globe and are a great way to make an extra commission by combining different flights and integrating it into one package tailor-made for your clients.

Target Audience

If you are looking to start a Travel Agency then you need to have a clear goal about your target audience as there are lots of travel agency that are operating today and it is difficult to compete with online websites..Select a niche target market as your target audience and concentrate on the niche to start your business.

Birth of a Travel Agency

Once you have the entire prerequisite then you can start the travel agency. Initially, start with Family and friends .Travel agency is one of the very few businesses that can be started from home part-time /full-time and then as you can grow you can add more and more people to help you with Advertising, Marketing, and Accounts etc

Customer Service

This is the most important thing for a new travel agency .Do not ever lose a single customer that you made in exchange for getting a new one .Your clients will keep giving you more business and referring you to everybody they meet and that would be your best advertisement .Always go an extra mile for your clients like adding the frequent flyer numbers, seats and any special requests

Website and Mobile apps

Website and mobile app is a costly affair to keep up and if you build a website and add a Payment option then you would need software, domain, server and that could be expensive .One can start with websites to generate new contacts and promote it on social media like Face book, Google plus, and twitter. When the business expands you can always add a mobile app to go with it.

Talk to me 

If you have a valuable suggestion that will benefit our readers then leave it in the comments section and i will add it to the post. If you like what you see then don't forget to like and share us on your social media.