Travel agency in India – Scope and opportunity

by varun · Published October 4, 2020 · Updated December 24, 2021

How to start a travel agency?

Travelling is one of the most inspirational things for an individual. We are currently living in a world where work related stress is high. Everyone wants to have some personal time and travelling is one of the best stress busters out there. Tour and travel industry employees millions of individuals in India and is expected to grow at 10% CAGR for at least 10 years. It is a very lucrative business for a first time entrepreneur in India. Few questions that comes to mind before starting a travel agency business are –

How to design a tour and travel business plan?
What is tour and travel business income?
What is Tour and travels business profit?
What is the scope of travel agency business in India?
How to get a tour operator license in India?
How to start a travel agency in India?

These are just sample questions that come into mind before starting a tour and travel business in India. Let us look at some important points related to this business –

Convenience business

A tour and travel business is a business of convenience. What customers expect from a tour operator is a hassle free experience. In this digital age where a person can plan his trip on his own, a travel agency has to offer an expert solution to attract the customer.

Support and guidance –

A travel agent needs to offer support and guidance at each stage of the customer lifecycle. Customers are looking for service from a travel agency just for one purpose and that is hassle free experience of travelling. From booking a ticket to transportation and hotel booking, everything has to be done in a smooth manner. A travel agency operator in India should be ready to answer each and every query of travelers with his experience.

Financial requirements –

One can setup a tour and travel agency in India by following two methods-

Setting up an own travel agency.
Franchisee model

You can start your travel and tourism business by following any of the above methods. However, financial costs would include –

Space – One needs to have some office space at an accessible location before starting this business. Office space should be in a commercial area for easy accessibility and professional touch.
Franchisee cost – You will require to pay some franchise costs to companies like Cox and kings, Thomas cook, Make my trip. A franchisee cost would be somewhere 5-10 Lakhs.
Operational and fixed expenses – Some operational expenses like manpower cost, electricity as well as one time costs like furniture, systems have to be incurred in this tour and travel business in India.

Before starting a tour and travel business one needs to be pretty much clear of corporate setup that one wants to follow. Pvt limited companies offer scalability while proprietorship can offer greater control and less corporate compliance.

In the end, one has to remember that a travel and tourism business in India is a service and like any other service related business, customer experience is one of the most important factors deciding whether a business would succeed or not. A happy customer can be a repeat customer but an unhappy one can’t be a repeat customer.

In this article, we have discussed important points related to a travel agency business. Meanwhile you can read more articles on various business and business related licenses here.