Organization of the travel agency. Basic principles of successful work of a travel agency. Opening a travel agency

Travel company - a tourist enterprise of an agency-operator profile, which has its own specific organization of activities, which, like in any other company, depends on the goals and objectives of its activities. Goals and objectives of the activity travel company- creating attractive tourism products that meet the needs of tourists, maintaining supply at the level of demand, as well as maintaining the competitiveness of the product.

Based on this, the entire cycle of functioning tourist enterprise can be divided into four important areas (Fig. 6.5):

1) marketing research market, including the study of consumer demand;
2) development tourism product, consisting of the planning of tourist programs and their approbation;
3) financial calculations, consisting of pricing, accounting and reporting policies, taxation, etc.;
4) development of a travel company, including the introduction of new products, directions, diversification and integration.

All these areas are aimed at fulfilling the main functions of a tourist enterprise - high-quality service for tourists, gaining a permanent clientele and thereby ensuring a stable financial and competitive position in the market. tourism services as well as reproduction and development. This work is carried out constantly and is a continuous cycle of activity of the tourist enterprise. And since the main product of a travel company is

Rice. 6.5

tour, then we can say that the work of a tourist enterprise is a continuous cycle of production and prospective activities to create a high-quality tourist product - a tour.

Tourism product development

The order of work of a travel company in compiling tours can be represented as a diagram in Fig. 6.6.

Creating a tourism product begins with a study of demand. However, this is not enough, since the tourist product is largely dependent on local reception facilities or on the capacity of the service organization. Climate, material base, infrastructure, tourist attractions - all this affects the content and composition of the tourist product. Having assessed your own capabilities, you should once again analyze the demand, projecting it onto the options for your capabilities - conduct its specification.

Then it is already possible to start laying routes, developing a service schedule. Under the service schedule, a package of tours and a set of additional services. At the same time there is a contractual campaign with service providers. Ready-made tour packages are calculated, and their retail and wholesale prices are determined, price lists for certain types services.

But the work does not end there either. After the service, the travel agency employees analyze all its advantages

Rice. 6.6

and shortcomings, draw conclusions and make appropriate changes to the product. These marketing activities are carried out along with the ongoing study of demand.

Financial calculations

Any work should bring not only joy, but also profit. Unprofitable industries burn out and close. In this regard, the travel company must take care of its profitability.

And where and how does a travel company (tour operator) get its income? Revenues are based on the sum of prices of sold tours and tourist services. However, the cost of the service provided by service providers must be reimbursed to them, that is, the money paid by the tourist for the service does not remain in the travel agency, but goes (paid) to service providers. Therefore, in addition to the cost of services, the composition of the price also includes profit (the usual profit margin for a tourist product of a tour operator is 15-20% of the cost of the tour), i.e.:

And these 15-20 % the cost of the tour should cover all the costs and expenses of the tourist enterprise and leave some more net profit for the further development and diversification of the company.

And what costs should be covered by income? You need to pay:

* the cost of services included in the service for our tours;
* taxes (VAT for travel agents, income tax, payroll tax and many others);
* rent of office premises;
* depreciation of equipment, furniture and inventory;
* wages employees, bonuses, bonuses, etc.;
* deposits or interest on deposits (to banks or insurance companies for a license, IATA or airlines for an agency agreement, etc.);
* formation of funds - social development, reconstruction and reorganization, investment, etc.

The firm must have some net profit from production for further development and possible diversification of the enterprise.

Among travel agencies around the world, including in Russia, there is serious competition for the sale of tours. And the price in this competition plays an important role.

In fact, if you are offered similar tours in different agencies, but at different prices, then you will choose the one that is cheaper. This is how the price instrument works in the market in matters competition. It turns out a kind of marketing-tingo-financial fork - I want to increase the price, but the market situation does not. Therefore, many travel companies are looking for other ways to increase the profitability of their business.

Tourism company development

As well as any production, a travel company (company) must necessarily develop in the market. A stop in the dynamics of development threatens to stagnate, since the market itself is very dynamic, constantly changing and developing. A stalled firm may simply fall behind. And that means losing. The main activities of the travel company in terms of further development are as follows:

Firstly, should be constantly carried out marketing research of trends in demand for the future. The development of new forms of service always gives the pioneers the opportunity to set initially higher prices, thereby skimming off the “cream of the market”.

Secondly, should be carried out diversification of tourism activities, allowing to diversify the areas of capital application, remaining within the framework of tourism business. In addition, if business difficulties arise in one direction, other areas will financially support production. Diversification of production in tourism can have two types of integration: horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal Integration - opening of new routes, directions, development of new types of tourism and services (first level); the opening of branches, subsidiaries engaged in similar activities, the purchase of competitors' enterprises, the formation of large associations, corporations (second level).

Vertical integration -- opening of new activities. For example, a tour operator creates its own agency, opens its garage for transfers, then builds hotels, restaurants, and opens its own airline.

In world practice vertical integration occurs often, but it is possible only when a certain level of capital and turnover is reached. For example, the French tourist company Nouvel Frontiere owns its own Corser airline, many tour operators have their own agent network, fleet of vehicles, etc.

Introduction

1.Basic principles for the successful operation of a travel agency

2.Basic steps of technology implementation

2.1. Computer selection

2.2. Choosing an office program

2.3. Internet access

2.4. The site of the company

2.5. Search system

3. Booking systems. GDS - Global Distribution Systems

Literature

Introduction

Tourism (French tourisme; tour - walk, trip) arose in that period of the development of society, when the need for a person to receive information about new places, to travel as a means of obtaining this information was an objective law of the development of human society. Travel brings pleasure and gives you the opportunity to relax.

At a certain stage in the development of the economy, when the need for travel increased sharply, manufacturers of these services also appeared. This led to the formation of a special type of product - tourism, which can be bought and sold on consumer market.

Producers of services intended to serve tourists (traveling people) have united in the "tourism" industry. Tourism is not a commodity of prime necessity, therefore it becomes an essential need of a person only at a certain level of his income and at a certain level of wealth of society.

Tourism in our time in many countries of the world is rapidly developing, playing an increasingly prominent role in the global economy. According to experts, the level international tourism by arrivals in 1999–2010 can reach more than 1 trillion tourists, and the profitability of this service sector will steadily increase. Already today, the tourism sector accounts for about 6% of the world's gross national product, 7% of world investment, every 16th workplace, 11% of global consumer spending.

Since tourism is an intersectoral sector of the economy, covering not only accommodation facilities, but also transport, communications, food, entertainment and much more, this sector affects any continent, state or city. Importance of tourism for the economy different countries primarily due to the benefits that it brings under the condition successful development. First of all, this is the growth of jobs in hotels and other accommodation facilities, in restaurants and other enterprises in the food industry, in transport and in related service industries. Another important advantage is the multiplier effect of tourism, that is, its impact on the development of related sectors of the economy. The third advantage is the growth of tax revenues to the budgets of all levels. In addition, tourism economic influence on the local economy by stimulating the export of local products.

In Russia, however, due to a number of reasons, the sphere of tourism activity, in comparison with many other countries, has not yet received proper development. Russia, together with all the CIS countries, accounts for only 2% of the world tourist flow. Today, the number of foreign guests coming to Russia for business, tourism and private purposes is about 8 million people, which is far from meeting its tourism potential.

Among the main reasons hindering the development inbound tourism, is the image of Russia created by certain foreign and domestic mass media as a country unfavorable for tourism; the imperfection of the current procedure for issuing Russian visas to citizens of foreign states that are safe in terms of migration; undeveloped tourist infrastructure; discrepancy between price and quality of accommodation in hotels, etc.

At the same time, the number of Russian citizens wishing to make a tourist trip is growing noticeably every year, especially in foreign countries. So, in recent years, the average number of Russian tourists traveling to countries near and far abroad is about 13 million people, and this figure is constantly growing. This indicates that tourism activity, having survived a period of chaotic development, is going through a stage of qualitative formation.

It is no secret that when a client of a travel agency, purchasing a tour, receives well-prepared documents and complete information about the tour, he feels more comfortable and trusts the chosen agency more. Also, the travel agency, having spent considerable funds to attract this client to himself, keeping full information about him, can later use it to re-attract the old client to himself. It is known that the costs in this case are four times lower than the initial ones!

An important component of the success of any company should not be missed - financial management and planning. The stability of the development of the travel agency and the absence of financial shocks are cherished dream many companies. How to achieve this? Systematized management of work with customers, suppliers and inner work company gives the desired result.

How can you achieve systematization of company management? The answer is quite simple - with the help of the introduction of modern technology. automated control.

Modern technologies nowadays you can buy in ready-made and implement, that is, adjust for yourself. The cost of implementation depends on the complexity of the system. To begin with, you can implement a simple and inexpensive automated accounting system. For example, a system for prompt entry of information about applications (orders) of customers, extracts of all required documents(booking list, contract, TUR-1 or spa voucher, invoice, receipt :), prompt receipt of sales reports. Further, you can complicate the system by adding prompt booking of seats, accounting for mutual settlements with suppliers, and communication with accounting.

It is possible to immediately install a unified accounting system, both operational and financial, and in two sections - managerial and accounting. With the use of flexible separation of access rights and visibility of information, managers have access to only their part of the system, and accountants - their part. Naturally, company executives see all the information and can monitor the work of managers from their computer. Since the operational input of information is carried out in unified system, then you can see who works and how: the number of entered applications, confirmed, paid by the client, paid to the supplier, closed, income for each application. Through the system reports, the manager sees the performance of each manager and department. Detailing can be set for each tourist and each component of the tour. For any client, you can see the history of his calls and payments.

In a single system, managers can immediately see whether their application is paid or not, the amount of payment. The accounting department immediately receives the original information and does not waste time re-entering the same data. All information is divided according to access rules, and the manager will not see unnecessary information. Accordingly, there is no need to separate the databases, which inevitably leads to input errors, slow operation and the resulting problems.

After the main tasks of the systematized management of a travel agency have been solved - managing work with clients, with suppliers and the internal activities of the company, you can begin to expand the system.

In the end, all the necessary information in a beautiful form is printed. Clients will be given the entire set of necessary documents, suppliers - relevant reports, and for the state - all reports of the established form will be printed.

Even latest technology in the company after its implementation must be constantly improved so as not to become obsolete. Therefore, the management system must be flexible and customizable so that it can be improved from the inside. The 1C:Enterprise system on which the standard solution"1C-Rarus: Travel Agency" is an open and flexible system. Using a powerful built-in programming language and the ability to communicate with any external systems can be built automated system management of any complexity.

PC "SAMO-TourAgent" - agency automation

Automation of the work of travel agencies usually comes down to the operational accounting of tours ordered by tourists, payments made with customers and partners, and printing of all necessary documents.

To automate a single travel agency, you need to use software based on the use of a database that accumulates all working data in a single repository. This is necessary to receive reports on the work of the agency at any time. In addition to the database, it is also necessary to have a program with a convenient user interface, acceptable speed, and configuration of system parameters related to the company's activities. These parameters primarily include text and appearance printed documents generated on the basis of operational data, as well as the ability to manage access rights to various system data.

With the automation of network agencies, the situation is somewhat more complicated. Network agencies from a legal point of view can be of various types: one company with several sales offices, a network of individual agencies under a common logo (franchisee): The management of network agencies periodically needs operational reporting on the activities of the entire network. Such reporting can only be provided if all data is stored in a single repository.

The technical side of automation of network agencies should in a certain sense be intertwined with the type of network. If it is easy enough to automate a separate agency by connecting it to a single database server of the central office via Internet channels, then it is impossible to do this with a franchisee. Communication problems with the database server will immediately lead to the paralysis of the work of an individual agency. In the case of a franchisee, this is a disruption of the work of one company due to the problems of another company. The solution is possible only through the use of a local working database in a separate office, which eliminates the dependence of the agency on the operation of the data channel, with copying to the central office of all entered data (the data channel is used quite rarely compared to a permanent connection - once an hour, once a day, the frequency is chosen by the parent company). But behind the advantages, there are also disadvantages. The central office server stores a single database collected from individual agencies. The central office can only passively monitor the work of the agency. It is technically very difficult to implement the active behavior of the central office in relation to the child.

Alexey Zhumataev

Opening a travel agency

Hello! Today I will write another topic for those who want business plan would be to open your own travel agency. First of all, we solve the issue of money, whether we will, or find an investor, and perhaps you have your own savings.

The tourism business is going through hard times, travel agencies are closing one after another, and not only small ones, but also quite strong and stable on their feet.

Therefore, let's look at the business plan I prepared, it will help to avoid many pitfalls. It should be noted right away that it is better to start a tourism business before the start of the season (that is, summer), at this particular time, the maximum demand for this service.

travel agency business plan

Let's look at what it takes to start a tourism business:

Travel agency registration

Of course, it’s worth starting and official registration this business. The form of ownership that is best suited for this activity is.

During registration, you will need to select an appropriate name for your travel agency.

Travel agency name

There are quite a few options for the activities of a travel agency, for example:

EuropeTour, Tourist, Leisure, Around the world, etc. If you lack imagination, then you can simply google the Internet and find the name of a travel agency that you like, even if it is plagiarism, but with a probability of 95% the names are not patented, so there should be no problems.

Activities of the travel agency

In addition to the name, you will need the types of activities that you will be engaged in:

63.30 - Activities of travel agencies.

This group includes all activities related to tourism business, so it is quite enough to specify the group itself and you will be able to use all the subgroups that it includes:

63.30.1 - Organization of complex tourist services;

63.30.2 - Provision of excursion tickets, provision of accommodation, provision of vehicles;

Each of us, when planning our vacation, is faced with the need to choose whether to travel independently or through a travel agency. If everything is clear with independent travel, then it is worth understanding how travel agencies work. This is important in order not to make a mistake with the choice of a company providing services.

How a travel agency works

Let's look at the work of such a company through the eyes of the average consumer. Turning to a travel agency, the client tells about his preferences - where he wants to go, what he likes, when he plans his vacation and what budget he has. The manager, in turn, sets suggestive questions in order to better understand the preferences of the client. When communication with questions is over, the specialist offers the client several options - destinations, countries, hotels, which the client studies and makes the final choice, based on the recommendations of the manager.

When the choice is made, an agreement on the sale of the tourist product is concluded between the client and the travel agency, payment is made. A few days before the departure, the client receives a package of documents necessary for the trip, which includes vouchers, tickets and insurance, and on the appointed day goes on a trip on the purchased ticket.

It would seem that everything is simple, and the question of how travel agencies work can be considered closed. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as most of the work is not visible to the client. Before contacting a firm, you should find out how travel agencies work from the inside.

Training

To start a travel agency, you need to create entity, most suitable for this is a society with limited liability, or register as individual entrepreneur. At the same time, it is necessary to choose a taxation system, the most suitable is the simplified taxation system “income minus expenses”, which is what most companies and operators choose. It is quite difficult to find travel agencies that work with VAT and common system taxation.

When the first steps are taken, the company needs to conclude agreements with tour operators, the nuances of working with which we will consider later. Then the agency must rent the premises in which its office will be located, equip it with furniture and appliances, and hire qualified specialists. Of course, if the director of the company is himself a specialist in this field, then the future employee may not have experience in tourism.

How to work in a travel agency without experience? There are two options. The first is to have experience in direct sales and learn the product (destinations, countries, hotels) in short time, with due diligence, this can be done in a few weeks. The second is to have your own experience of traveling abroad, and the richer this experience, the better - your own impressions and emotions will always be better than theoretical knowledge about countries, but even in this case you should read about the nuances of traveling and get acquainted with the list of popular hotels.

In the end, everything will come with experience, and if the director is really interested in the development of a travel agency, then at least once a year info tours for employees should be organized - for personal acquaintance with hotels in Russia and abroad. Also, to improve your skills, you should attend seminars and webinars of tour operators in order to always be aware of the latest tourism news and popular destinations. Full clarity on how the travel agency works, principles and patterns of interaction with tourists and the tour operator will come within a few months.

Start of work, conclusion of the contract

When everything is ready to go, the travel agency opens and looks for its first clients. Let's skip the work marketing department and fast forward to the moment when the client has already arrived at the office. As we discussed above, the travel agent consults with the client, finding out his preferences and choosing the best option for recreation. After the client makes a choice and the moment of sale occurs, the technical part begins.

The client provides the travel agent with foreign passports for purchasing a tour in another state or general civil for a holiday in home country(passports are returned to the client, only copies of them are sufficient for the travel agent), after which both parties sign an agreement in which the conditions for the work of the travel agency with the client are indicated, all the parameters of the purchased tour and the terms of its payment are prescribed. The contract is concluded between the travel agent and the client, however, the terms should be mentioned: the client is the buyer of the tourist product, but the contract also contains a list of tourists - those people who take part in the trip and for whose interests the buyer is responsible. The buyer can be one of the tourists or just buy a tour for other people.

Booking

After the conclusion of the contract, the travel agency books the tour selected by the client from the tour operator. Here you need to explain what it is, how it differs from a travel agency and how a travel agency works with a tour operator.

A tour operator is a provider of travel services, he concludes contracts with hotels, transfers, airlines, insurance and other companies, forms package tours and sells them through agencies, since, by law, he cannot sell them at retail. The travel agency is an intermediary between the tour operator and the tourist, the agent only offers the offers formed by the tour operator to the client, provides all the information necessary for the trip, books the tour and transfers the package of documents.

So, concluding an agreement with the client for the implementation of a tourist product and accepting payment, the agency begins to book the selected tour in the operator’s online system, entering the passport data of all tourists. During the time (from a few minutes to three working days), the tour operator provides the agency with a confirmation of the tour - the hotel is booked, places on the plane and on the transfer too. The agency passes this information on to the traveler. It remains only to wait for the documents for the trip, which are issued a few days before departure.

Payment

In most cases, it is inconvenient for the client to pay for the tour in full, and although the contract approved by the Ministry of Tourism specifies the payment terms for the tour within three working days, there are installment systems.

Travel agencies working in installments are not uncommon. The easiest way to pay for the purchase more than once is to ask the company for a payment schedule that the operator provides. Each operator has different payment schedules for the tour, but on average they look something like this:

The client must pay 10% of the cost of the tour at the time of concluding an agreement with the agency.
Up to 30-50% of the tour cost will need to be paid within three to five working days after the tour is confirmed.
And up to 100% must be paid two to three weeks before the start of the trip.

Of course, if a client purchases a tour less than two weeks before departure, then most likely the agent will ask him to pay for the tour in full on the day the contract is concluded. This also applies to the so-called burning or abandoned vouchers. There are some nuances when buying a tour for an early booking promotion - in this case, it is necessary to fully pay for it before the end of the promotion, regardless of how much time is left before the start of the tour.

Installment plan

The purchase of a tour by installments with the Halva card is very popular. The list of travel agencies working with Halva is quite large, and every tourist can pick up something for himself. For example, Tez Tour gives installments on the card for three months, Anex tour from one to four months, Pegas from two to four months or immediately for six months. You can continue for a long time, it is best to check the current partners and the terms for providing installments on the official website of Halva.

Issuance of travel documents

After the tour is booked, confirmed and paid, the client has to wait for the day when the documents that he will need for the trip will be issued and available for printing. Usually this is reported by the travel agency.

Until this moment, a tourist can contact the company on various issues related to his trip, including asking his manager how the travel agency works in order to know all the subtleties and nuances of his trip.

Departure documents are usually available three to ten days before the start of the tour. It depends on the tour operator - someone writes out documents faster, someone strictly within a certain time. Also, the issuance of documents depends on the flights on which the tourist will fly. If the flights are regular, then usually tickets are issued faster (but such a tour will cost more and you will need to pay faster), if the flights are charter, then tickets are issued 3-4 days before departure.

What else does a travel agency do?

This is where the obligations of the company under the contract end, the tourist makes a trip where the tour operator is responsible for the quality of the services provided. He or his representatives provide all previously booked services - flight to the country of destination, transfer from the airport to the hotel, accommodation and meals at the hotel, medical insurance and others. However, if the travel agency cares about its customers and wants to make customers permanent, information support occurs before the return of tourists from the trip. The travel agent notifies travelers about changes in departure time, helps to resolve issues on vacation with insurance, if necessary, and upon return, asks about people's opinions about the vacation and arranges the next meeting.

This is the principle of the travel agency. In different firms, it varies somewhat, but this already depends on the responsibility and initiative of specialists and the director.

Buy from an operator or agency?

As mentioned earlier, operators do not have the right to retail tours that they have formed. But on the operators' websites there is a search for tours for individuals, you can choose and buy a tour. What is more convenient?

When buying a tour on the operator's website, you submit an application and conclude an offer agreement with the corporate office - an agency operating under the name (franchise) of the tour operator. However, when choosing a tour on the website of only one operator, you limit yourself in your choice, because when choosing a tour in an agency, you look for it in the database of several tour operators at once and choose what suits you.

How to choose an agency?

If all travel agencies are similar in many ways, then which one to choose? The question is ambiguous, for everyone there will be a different answer depending on personal preferences. Consider the main criteria.

First, pay attention to where the office of the travel agency is located (on the transport infrastructure and the remoteness of the institution from the center), so that it is convenient to get to it. Look at the building where the firm's office is located. If the company is located in the old trading house, on the ground floor or in the market, these are signs of a bad travel agency - it is not clear what else it can save on. Entering the office, focus on sound, smell and light - all this shows how the company is focused on its customers. In general, inspect the office better - for the state of repair, furnishings, cleanliness, employees.

Second, feel free to ask the travel agent more questions. Depending on how they answer you, you will be able to form your own opinion on how they will work with you in the future if a difficult situation arises.

Before choosing a travel agency, ask your acquaintances, relatives, colleagues and friends. Perhaps their experience will help you decide and make right choice. Read reviews on websites, city forums and reference books. And remember: a beautiful travel agency website is not always an indicator of its success and integrity, research independent sources.

If you are interested in one particular destination, then you should not look for travel agencies that work with Turkey or with any other country. Most companies work with all directions at once, so as not to lose customers. They will not benefit from specializing in only one country or part of the world. Yes, there are tour operators working with one or two countries, but this is rather an exception.

It is worth remembering that the professionalism of the company is evidenced by its versatility and quality service. First-class travel agencies working with Montenegro or Turkey must properly arrange for you a ticket to anywhere in the world.

conclusions

Whether to travel with a travel agency is a personal choice for everyone. Someone prefers to plan their vacation on their own, but there are obviously advantages to a vacation with a certain company.

By turning to qualified professionals, you free yourself from searching for the cheapest tickets, the right accommodation, a reliable insurance company and a safe transfer. Contacting a travel agency saves you time, and a competent specialist will always find the best way and answer all questions. No need to search endlessly for information on the Internet or on the hotlines of each of the providers of the services you have booked. The undoubted advantage is the possibility of paying for the tour in installments, according to the tour operator's payment schedule or using the Halva card.

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