self employed travel agent? What do I need to do?

hbp2008

Hi all.

I'm thinking of the future so won't be doing this right now, but I'm wanting to become a self employed travel planner. What are the legalities of this, do I need to ATOL register etc?

I basically want to be an independent travel planner that will help people plan and book their holidays using existing sites etc?

Any help or advise would be great Thank you

Caz3121

Are you familiar with GDS systems for flight bookings? Amadeus/Sabre etc?
Have you worked in the industry before? do you have a business plan...commission on flights for agents is tiny (if anything) how would you be making an income? - charging a fee on top of the booking? Are you going to be offering anything that someone cannot do themselves?
You mention using 'existing sites' - do you mean that you would use the same sites as members of the public?

macman

Assuming you already have employment experience in the industry, surely you must know what the registration requirements are? There is a big difference between being an agent and being a consultant. Which are you proposing to be? If you are processing client payments and booking for them, then you are an agent and will need to be ATOL licensed. The fees start at around £1200 according to their website.

richardw

Why would I get involved with you to do something I can do myself?

Pollycat

I think I'd be asking the same question that richardw has.
What added value would you be providing over what I could organise myself using the same websites that you have access to?


And, of course, Caz3121 has also asked some very pertinent questions.

macman

There is a market for travel consultants in the luxury/bespoke travel sector, but you would need extensive experience of and contacts in that market. It's unclear if the OP has such a background.

Sooler

There's plenty of people cash rich time poor and spending hours on research and logistical planning ain't their thing.

See the T&C here for how this site does it - contracts, complaints
https://www.thepersonaltravelagents.co.uk/agency-t-cs/

or even consider operating via this site for the professional backup.
https://www.thepersonaltravelagents.co.uk/find-your-personal-travel-agent/


I've never heard of it, but then I've never looked for such a thing - do due diligence of course.

anna_1977

I can't see there's much money in it.

I'm one of those people that used a travel consultant to plan a 3 week trip to China and the price was nearly £15k for 4 of us - then went away and booked everything myself and it was £10k

seashore22

It sounds like you haven't done any research at all op. I have to say that it wouldn't give me confidence that you would be capable of doing searches online for holidays better than me or anyone else on this forum.

We never book our holidays as a package and always find our own accommodation and flights independently. It's really not that difficult to do and if I was looking for someone to do it for me I would go to a company with a proven track record.

Pollycat

seashore22 wrote: »

It sound like you haven't done any research at all op. I have to say that it wouldn't give me confidence that you would be capable of doing searches online for holidays better than me or anyone else on this forum.

We never book our holidays as a package and always find our own accommodation and flights independently. It's really not that difficult to do and if I was looking for someone to do it for me I would go to a company with a proven track record.

Me too.

When I was looking at an escorted tour of China, I checked out lots of companies and read as many reviews as I could find.

I wouldn't choose a random company/individual to make arrangements for any of my trips.

Although - going by the number of threads on here and Tripadvisor about using 3rd party companies (On the Beach, Sunshine Travel etc) and 3rd party flight booking sites (Travelgenio, Kiwi.com, eDreams etc) not everyone is as careful about who they give their money to.

Doshwaster

macman wrote: »

There is a market for travel consultants in the luxury/bespoke travel sector, but you would need extensive experience of and contacts in that market. It's unclear if the OP has such a background.

There is also a role for travel consultants in business travel or corporate events market. Companies are always trying to control their travel budgets or at least get better value for what they do spend. Long gone are the days when staff would be given a company credit card and allowed to book everything themselves.

However, it would be very difficult to get started in the business on your own without any prior experience as you would need a portfolio of clients as well as good contacts with suppliers.