Of all the things, there is one that stays forever since time immemorial, and that is, people must travel! Every single day, we witness more than billions of bookings. The massive reservations imply that the travel agency is a lucrative opportunity to be grabbed by anyone. Regarding the same, the United States of an America records collection of revenue amounting to 17.3 billion USA dollars every year from travel consultancy. It is apparent that it is good business and no statistics project its collapse, but selecting an appropriate agency to run needs putting to consideration several factors are considered. The factors range from the understating the role of travel consultancy, types of travel agencies, the legal framework of travel agency, and the professional minimums for travel agency. These factors determine the success rate of a particular travel business, and when taken so gravely they will make a lucrative business niche.
Types of Travel Agencies
There are there main types of travel agencies that are common in most regions. They include a retail travel agency, travel wholesalers and tour operators.
Retail travel agency
A retailer travel business operates as a middle person between the travel companies and the consumers. These persons link up with the companies and seek the opportunity to be marketers through the agreement made to receiving a given percentage out of the total tickets sold out. In most cases, such consultants tend to see travel opportunities in hotels, business, and airlines. According to the statistics from the United States of America, travel business retailers are the leading in the market with the shareholder of about 29%. In terms of the revenue raised, these kinds of agencies contribute up to 12 billion USA dollars every financial year. That is the highest percentage of revenue compared to the total raised by the whole travel business. Anyone can develop an interest in this kind of business considering the return value and success rates are high.
Wholesaler travel agencies
Another group of middlemen between the travel companies and consumers is the travel wholesalers. They take a minimum percentage in terms of their number. The kind of service offered is pooling the travel from various companies and availing then in bundles or rather packages to the travelers or the retailers. Such travel agency requires great interconnections with the multiple companies. The predictability in terms of the implementation is that very high capital might be needed to start such, and it also needs regions with a high concentration of travel companies.
Tourism travel agency
Lastly is the tourism travel agency. Probably, it is among the most essential and often required type of travel agency. It requires the travel business to act as or availing tour guides who take tourists around the travel regions. The business can thrive especially in regions with tourist attraction features such as museums among others.
Legal Requirements to Operate Travel Business
Just like operating any business a license is mandatory. The license is obtained from the state authority after confirming to all the legal requirement as stipulated by the law. The legal obligation is the registration of the travel agency as any other formal business within the state. Upon the completion of the registration. The agency needs to seek for the companies to draft agreement and do the signing so as to have the legal backing when acting on behalf of any company. During the process, the full names of each company director will be required, national identification numbers and certification.
Professional Minimums for Travel Agency
The business agency is like a salesperson. Every skill of salesmanship is a requirement here. The skills include fluency in the language, socialization skills, persuasive skills, emotional balance, and technological compliant. Technology demands being vast with the software used in travel companies. The agent should have the software’s fully installed and be able to operate them. Some knowledge in hospitality tourism and communication are of great importance to the business and act as an added advantage.
