New business - personal travel agent. Thoughts?

andrewm1981

Hi,

I have worked in retail (successfully) for 17 years, and have recently taken a break. I really started to detest my job, and left. I had received a fairly large inheritance, and so I got married and have just finished a 7 month, 31 country honeymoon.

I have always wanted to start my own business as I consider myself very driven, and I absolutely love travelling. I've been to over 50 countries. The 7 month honeymoon I booked everything myself, and researched every country throughly, inc flights,hotels, visas, injections, crime, customs and other advice.

The concept of a personal travel agent is not new, but I believe I can offer something extra. I live in SW London near some wealthy parts of London, where there is money for the personal touch. I'd basically offer a service where a person / couple would say that they'd want to see a certain part of the world, on a medium budget, for X length of time. I'd get a rough plan together, and if approved, book everything, getting the absolute best prices, research everything, and deliver them the itinary. I'd obviously charge a commission of 10-12% (roughly).

I'd offer a personal service with house visits if required to sort details, plus as I'd be Independant I wouldn't be tied to a specific chain of hotels / airline so be cheaper.

I'd intend to only act as an advising agent, ie not have any responsibility if a hotel closed etc.

I believe there are couples near retirement who want to explore the world but not be confident enough to research every detail themselves (it was daunting for me!) or parents wishing to send there 20 somethings on a trip but need some expert / experienced advice.

Any thoughts on the proposal? I don't need to make money immediately but within 6 months ideally! Rough figures - 1 month trip for a couple may cost £5000, and take 2.5 days to prepare, so roughly £200 / day. Not a huge amount to the customer for peace of mind, although not a huge income for me either (but sufficient!)

Thanks, Andrew

missbiggles1

When you say "retail", do you mean retail travel?

Tigsteroonie

andrewm1981 wrote: »

I'd intend to only act as an advising agent, ie not have any responsibility if a hotel closed etc.

If you intend trading on reputation alone, the above is quite risky.

If you are booking for them, are you not acting as a 'travel agent' and need to be registered? Genuine question, not sure of the legalities.

What's to stop somebody inviting you in, taking the benefit of your advice, and then booking it themselves without paying you any commission?

missbiggles1

andrewm1981 wrote: »

Hi,

I have worked in retail (successfully) for 17 years, and have recently taken a break. I really started to detest my job, and left. I had received a fairly large inheritance, and so I got married and have just finished a 7 month, 31 country honeymoon.

I have always wanted to start my own business as I consider myself very driven, and I absolutely love travelling. I've been to over 50 countries. The 7 month honeymoon I booked everything myself, and researched every country throughly, inc flights,hotels, visas, injections, crime, customs and other advice.

The concept of a personal travel agent is not new, but I believe I can offer something extra. I live in SW London near some wealthy parts of London, where there is money for the personal touch. I'd basically offer a service where a person / couple would say that they'd want to see a certain part of the world, on a medium budget, for X length of time. I'd get a rough plan together, and if approved, book everything, getting the absolute best prices, research everything, and deliver them the itinary. I'd obviously charge a commission of 10-12% (roughly).

I'd offer a personal service with house visits if required to sort details, plus as I'd be Independant I wouldn't be tied to a specific chain of hotels / airline so be cheaper.

I'd intend to only act as an advising agent, ie not have any responsibility if a hotel closed etc.

I believe there are couples near retirement who want to explore the world but not be confident enough to research every detail themselves (it was daunting for me!) or parents wishing to send there 20 somethings on a trip but need some expert / experienced advice.

Any thoughts on the proposal? I don't need to make money immediately but within 6 months ideally! Rough figures - 1 month trip for a couple may cost £5000, and take 2.5 days to prepare, so roughly £200 / day. Not a huge amount to the customer for peace of mind, although not a huge income for me either (but sufficient!)

Thanks, Andrew

How are you offering them peace of mind when you also say " not have any responsibility if a hotel closed etc. "?

andrewm1981

Hi, Thanks for your replies!

My retail experience is not travel, just high street. However I have been recognised as being fantastic with customers and building relationships, so there are definitely transferable skills. I would be using my personal experience and expertise in the role. as I mentioned, over 30 countries on this recent trip, and around 250 flights in my lifetime. My carbon footprint isn't great!

The peace of mind that I'd be offering would be planning and organising a trip, so that the best parts of a region are seen, safety advice from past experience, as well the best price available was paid. Often people are cash rich but time poor, and may not have the time to conduct the research, or want to waste time when abroad seeing things that aren't worth seeing.

There are options, as far as I can see of around £1,000 to join ABTA or ATOL which does offer some security for the traveller which isn't much in the scheme of things so I would look to join them.

To stop people talking my advice and not paying, I could easily (2-4 hours) create a rough itinerary with guide prices, suggested places to see and timescales. If these were appropriate, then an agreement could be draw up.

There are things to iron out like how payment for the trips would be made (their card, but who actually pays the money?) but in principle, could this be a viable business? So many people have said that they would love to go on the adventure that we've been on, but wouldn't know where to start with regards to organising, which is where the idea came from!

paddyrg

Expertise is something people will pay for. Does 7 months make you an expert? Who knows? I wouldn't imagine so, even for someone who worked for 7 months as a travel agent.

I don't think being 'independent' makes 'you' any cheaper than a package deal, and certainly doesn't have ABTA/ATOL benefits. Travel agents will deal direct with a hotel, and because they do volume, can likely get better rates than you. If you're calling direct, without putting it on your credit card as nonrefundable, you're going to get Rack Rate.

Security advice from a personal perspective of one person on a 7-month holiday isn't particularly useful - if you (someone young and energetic) didn't get taken for a ride in Marrakesh doesn't mean an older couple may not. Unless you know a local fixer really well (eg there's a guy in Dubai I've put lots of business over a number of years through, so trust him for personal contacts as well now), all you have is...well...what you saw on your way through. Would you advise me to go to Cairo? Sinai? Luxor? They have different security statuses with FCO. What jabs would I need for JB instead of Singapore?

There is a whole branch of business in personal tours for sure, but typically it'd be for someone wanting the best, and I don't know you'd be offering the best based on one extended trip. Perhaps train in a travel agent for a few years to learn how the industry works as an advisor (not a customer), /then/ implement your plan

Gleeful

I work in travel and these are my initial thoughts

andrewm1981 wrote: »

Hi,




I'd offer a personal service with house visits if required to sort details, plus as I'd be Independant I wouldn't be tied to a specific chain of hotels / airline so be cheaper.

No you really wouldn't - as an independent agent how would you gain access to cheap rates?

I'd intend to only act as an advising agent, ie not have any responsibility if a hotel closed etc.

This wouldn't be possible. You'd be VERY responsible if the s**t !!!! the fan


Thanks, Andrew

You would be better off exploring the concept of becoming a Co-Op PTA https://www.co-operativetravel.co.uk/personal-travel-advisors/careers/ and seeing if that works for you.

You really need to read and understand about your obligations as a travel agent before branching out on your own.

Owain_Moneysaver

There are travel agent franchises, where you might be able to combine your personal experience and use the franchise booking and bonding systems.

Please take appropriate professional advice before investing in a franchise.

paddyrg

Not meaning to sound discouraging, but this could be a very efficient way to make a small fortune...out of a large one. Certainly a sector where experience has value, and the thoughts about an independent being cheaper really show up how important that'll be.

DKLS

How about working for Kuoni?, my mate is one of their travel experts for India and Mauritius. He is planning to setup on his own, but thought it worthwhile to build up contacts and experience first.

honeypop

andrewm1981 wrote: »

The concept of a personal travel agent is not new, but I believe I can offer something extra. I live in SW London near some wealthy parts of London, where there is money for the personal touch. I'd basically offer a service where a person / couple would say that they'd want to see a certain part of the world, on a medium budget, for X length of time. I'd get a rough plan together, and if approved, book everything, getting the absolute best prices, research everything, and deliver them the itinary.
...

I'd offer a personal service with house visits if required to sort details, plus as I'd be Independant I wouldn't be tied to a specific chain of hotels / airline so be cheaper.

This is all exactly what the independent travel agents under Travel Counsellors offer, the one I use does all this and more for a very personal touch (including handwritten luggage tags, waking up in the silly hours to check people in online to their flights as soon as check in opens, amongst other things).

So why not join an existing company that offers everything you say you want to offer, but with the back up of a recognised brand and IT systems, better rates and discounts than you could get, etc?

That said, she says there's a fair amount of non-billable work involved in the research phase, planning itineraries etc for the people that then choose not to go ahead.