How to Start an Online Travel Agency: A Complete Beginner’s Guide

The travel industry has been booming over the past few years. Millions of people travel from one place to another for holidays or business purposes. The need for organizing travel packages is increasing each year. Therefore, travel agents, tour operators, and DMCs skills are currently in big demand. 

If you plan to start a travel agency, you need to follow specific steps to build a successful travel business. There is enormous competition, and you need to stand out to be successful. A complete travel agency software that can help you manage your day-to-day business by managing customers, building trips, creating offers, processing payments and much more is essential for every successful travel business. 

Starting a travel business is not like walking in the park, but we’ll guide you through the steps you need to take to create a successful travel agency.

5 Steps How to Start a Successful Travel Business:

#1 Is now the right time to start a travel business? 

Past two years, the entire world has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel basically stopped because of hard lockdowns. After the arrival of the COVID vaccine, travel has seen recovery and a significant increase in bookings and reservations as well as the demand for travel agents and tour operators.

Travel is big business worldwide, and up to 500,000 people are traveling at any time and travel demand will continue to grow in the upcoming years. The direct contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the global GDP is about US$ 4.7 trillion. 

If you are a travel enthusiast, this is the perfect time to build an online travel agency. 

The great thing about the travel industry is that you can start small (or even part-time), with very little investment and without much risk. For someone passionate about selling travel, there are many ways to expand quickly and increase earnings. 

#2 Find a niche and a USP

Travel agencies usually offer all kinds of services, but the most successful ones specialize in a particular niche. For example, some travel agencies focus on luxury travel, while others on the adventure travel industry. Smart travel agencies know their competition well before starting their own business.

One idea for a travel agency could be tailor-made trips on a particular theme or to a specific region. Think about what will make you stand out. 

You need to identify what problem you’re solving for your customers and then create a unique selling proposition (USP) that solves that problem

The travel agency is more about advising your clients than selling them travel. For example, your clients will want to know how to rent a car or what local customs they need to follow. 

#3 Find a great business name

Before you spend money on business cards or a website, you can check that the name you want to use isn’t similar or identical to an existing travel agency. 

You can use one of the online brand name generators to inspire you. Another major thing you will need is a domain name. Your domain name is basically the address of your website. Check to see if the domain is available before you choose your business name.

#4 Software, Website, and Accounting

 If you have been thinking of starting your travel agency from home, you must create your own website. You can learn to create a website on your own, but you need to be prepared to have some technical skills such as HTML and CSS if you decide to build your own website. 

The alternative is to pay someone else to build it for you or use a custom Web Booking Engine from TripMatrix, which allows you to easily add your products, services and promote them worldwide.

You can start your own travel agency with the glitziest, the most expensive option, but most likely, you will need to hire a web development specialist to manage your website. Once you decide on a CMS (Content Management System) you will use, the next step is to focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to increase and improve the organic visibility of your products and services. 

Many agencies spend so much time and effort on building an amazing website with many features like categories dropdown, forms,  CMS, and direct payment, but no one can find the website because it is not SEO optimized for search. 

You can read 5 ways to improve travel agency and tour operators’ websites to learn more about specific tasks that agents use to improve website visibility.  

 

 

If you are still looking for a website, you should check TripMatrix.It solves all your problems with pre-built customizable travel agency websites. All you need to do is choose a logo, color palette, and then you’re ready to go! We will provide you with access to our domain for free. 

#5 Think Big

 After you pick your name, check all roles and regulations from your local authorities, and choose and build your website. It is time to think big and focus on developing your business. 

Go to local events and network with the people in your industry. We cannot underestimate the fact that people still buy from people, so connecting with agents in similar spaces can expand your network and speed up the upscaling process. 

The travel industry is expanding every year, so you can expect to see a lot of opportunities in this industry in the future.

The bottom line – How much can you earn? 

When you start a travel agency as self-employed, your source of income will mainly be the fees you charge your clients and the commissions you receive from travel suppliers such as airlines, hotels car rental companies, etc. 

The travel industry is commission-based, which means that every time you sell a trip to a tour operator, you get a percentage of the fees. It’s essential to get your name out there because international tour operators won’t offer low prices to an unknown company. 

Most commissions start at around 10%, but the big tour operators get more favorable terms. It depends on their name in the industry and how much revenue they can generate for the hotel, airline, etc. This all impacts how much money you will make as an independent travel agent. 

TripMatrix Payment Module

TripMatrix software can help you get started quickly. TripMatrix is a commission-based all-in-one business solution for travel agents and trout operators. You will immediately get access to our partners worldwide and start promoting your travel products and services. This will help you get started quickly and generate revenue right away. 

Our built-in payment module will take care of all commissions and due payments, allowing you to focus on what you do best, creating an outstanding experience for your clients. Find out more by reading our latest post about 6 reasons why you need a travel agency software to run your travel business. 

Contact us now and find out more about our amazing product.