How to Start a Home or Office-based Travel Agency

It was in February of 2012 when I took my very first whole-day seminar and paid a thousand peso on how to set up a travel agency. That time everything was new to me so I never really digested the information at all but it was not a waste because it challenged me to keep learning along the way. I had no one to turn to even up to now when it comes to help and advices so I learn from my mistakes and experiences alone. It is never easy I tell you.   

Before I finally closed my first ever major sale of a tour package, I remembered a few dozen that I lost previously because I literally don’t know the ropes of this business. I work with 2 freelance tour guides, 1 tour operator and I deal with 6 accredited travel agencies so far: 5 of them I have active engagement until now and 3 seasonal. I am still looking and hoping to collaborate to a lot more also.  Out of these 8 travel agencies, only 2 of them I have met in person. I  talk to them over the phone, send emails, exchange text messages and close thousand bucks thru online transactions. 

DUE TO INCREASING DEMAND, WE ARE NOW DOING A COMPLETE, STEP BY STEP GUIDE E-BOOK ON HOW TO START A HOME OR OFFICE BASED TRAVEL AGENCY WHICH IS STILL ON BETA MODE.

However a partner legitimate travel agency that has been in the business for 15+ years is conducting a seminar about putting up a travel agency.

Send me email at mariaronab@gmail.com so I can connect you to her.


Continuation:
When a friend told me there is another one coming for a much lesser price I said yeah I will grab the opportunity now that I am thinking to put up a travel agency and / or a startup about an online travel shop. The deal was from a group-buying site so it was a quarter of the original price and we bought it right away. With that, I want to share  you what I learned in setting up a travel agency in the Philippines:

A travel agency is a business that sells tour packages (local and international) or promote other travela agencies tour packages  in exchange of payment of commission.

A tour operator is an entity that sells tour package only available within its place.

History  

Thomas Cook from England is the one who founded the first ever travel agency in 19th century when he used to arrange trips via rail excursions for persons who are joining a rally then when summer came he decided to conduct outings for leisure purposes.

Services

- Airline arrangements

- Land arrangements (hotel and tour packages)

- Package tours (airline and land arrangements)

- Car rentals

- Cruises / ferry

- Passport / visa assistance

- Eload, remittance and bill payments

What is an IATA accredited travel agency vs non – IATA one?

International Air Transport Association (IATA) -  Is an international industry trade group of airlines. Its mission is to represent, lead, and serve the airline industry. If a travel agency wants to be a member of IATA, there is a minimum bond of P3.5 million. They can issue tickets and tickets of bookings to non IATA travel agencies.

Non IATA travel agency – Do not need to put up bond but definitely needs all the licenses. It can make airline bookings but cannot issue ticket and needs to be in partner with an IATA travel agency to get all their bookings 

What makes setting up a travel agency a good business?

It does not require a big investment to put up a travel agency and it can be maintained at low operational costs. You may start by doing this yourself part time at home then you may setup an office and hire more once becomes fully established already.

What are the legal qualifications? 

Conforming to the legal standards is always a win-win situation to the business owner. First, secure a DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) permit to register the name of your travel agency. The rest of the documents to follow are barangay permit, mayor’s permit etc. You may check the business registration process in Manila i wrote previously here.

How can you thrive as a small business in the industry?

By giving competitive prices ONLY if you have the right suppliers meaning you should have the proper knowledge of the operational procedures and the right resources before starting.

How do you earn?

By mark ups and commissions in each of every closed sale of tour packages.

Challenges

Your travel agency is certainly not the only one that exists so always make your rates affordable without sacrificing the quality of service you are going to offer. Mismanagement is one of the worst reasons why some travel agency closes down so it is very important to know how to run this kind of business.  Always be mindful of the new procedures or new technologies like the current trends so that your business is never left behind. Patience of answering client’s inquiries, expect the worse here it eats a lot of time and measures your sanity sometimes to 

What did I realized

Setting up a travel agency is not all about getting the proper permits then you can start selling tour packages pronto but it is all about CONNECTIONS who are your contacts to arrange tours and accommodation. This composes van drivers, hotel staff etc.

NO travel agency seminar or travel agency operator will give you his or contacts / suppliers for free.  The owner must be tonto if you are given this kind of information! Like the travel agencies I have tied up with, nobody directed me to approach them. It’s my initiative that I risked working with them in good faith that everything would be good. 

Establishing a work relationship is the hardest part. I have to get their trust for them to find time to reply to my emails and text messages, even answer my calls. I have to close deals for them in order to reciprocate the time they have given to me. 

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Hi there :) My name is Maria Rona Beltran, the Founder of this travel blog and shop - Travel Maria you are reading right now. I want to stay connected to you to a lot of other ways so I am sharing you other social media accounts.  See y'all online soon:)

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