How to create a travel agency?
Do you want to create a travel agency? To accompany adventurers and other travel lovers and help them prepare for their trips? In short, to be alongside those who dream of beautiful getaways and exoticism? Remember that your adventure begins first with an essential step: the creation of a business. Being a travel agent also means complying with a number of regulations. Discover without further delay how to create a travel agency!
Summary:
I/ The role of a travel agency, a brief reminder of the profession II/ Skills required to create a travel agency III/ Regulations to follow IV/ Choosing a legal form V/ Summary of the steps to follow to create your
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travel agency I/ The role of a travel agency, a brief reminder of the profession
This is a preamble to the creation of a travel agency. Indeed, before really starting, it is good to know that being a travel agent is a delicate job that requires you to focus your attention on the smooth running of your client’s trip or stay. In this sense, a travel agent does not just sell various products to their clients. They also provide caring advice to their clients and ensure that they can prepare as best as possible for their trip. Moreover, after researching the best prices, the travel agency must offer the best solutions to allow its clients to travel at a reasonable price while benefiting from impeccable service quality.
On the other hand, you must clearly distinguish the activities of a travel agency from those of other players in the tourism sector. Indeed, the tour operator, for example, prepares trips and creates “tours”. Your task will then be to distribute the latter. There is also the travel designer or the tourism consultant. This is a service provider responsible for designing trips rather than the tour operator.
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As its name suggests, the guide is responsible for accompanying guests on-site during their stay. Be careful, this profession is not regulated. Finally, there is the tour guide. They comment on visits to tourist sites and also organize conferences on topics related to heritage. Make sure they present a professional card when you request their services.
II/ Skills required to create a travel agency
To help entrepreneurs in certain sectors facilitate the creation of their companies, the state has decided to remove the professional qualification requirements. Lucky you! The tourism sector is affected by this change. Indeed, if previously you had to hold a Higher Technician Certificate (Bac 2) or a Tourism-Leisure degree (Bac 3) to be able to create your travel agency, this is no longer the case today. Previously, if the business creator did not have a diploma in the field, they also had to have worked for several months in a travel agency and completed a four-month internship in order to hope to open their own travel agency.
Since January 1, 2016, these conditions are no longer necessary.
However, if you decide to create a travel agency without a diploma, it may be useful to undergo training to avoid being overwhelmed by the whims of the profession. This involves assessing your skills and then training if necessary.
Thus, to set up your travel agency, in your interest, you must:
- know the different destinations and products sold,
- have a good foundation in foreign languages,
- have a strong commercial sense and excellent interpersonal skills,
- be rigorous in administrative matters (many administrative procedures must be considered)
III/ Regulations to follow
To obtain your registration and your practice as a travel agent, you just need to meet two criteria:
- obtain a financial guarantee,
- be covered by a professional liability insurance.
A) Financial guarantee
Up to €200,000 (for large agencies?), the guarantee must be taken out with a licensed organization such as banks and insurance companies. This is a mandatory guarantee that must ensure the reimbursement of clients and their repatriation if, for example, the travel agency ceases operations. In fact, the financial guarantee is just a guarantee.
Then, the amount of this guarantee will be calculated each year based on the previous year’s turnover. It can be reviewed based on the products sold. To avoid surprises, know that the guaranteed funding for a package trip sold directly to the consumer will correspond to 20% of the previous year’s turnover. The same applies to trips sold in the form of gift vouchers. For other services, the guarantee will correspond to 6% of the turnover.
B) Mandatory insurance
To be eligible for registration for your travel agency, you must also take out insurance—as mentioned above. Indeed, you must take out professional liability insurance (RCR) when creating a travel agency. It is mandatory to display the insurance number and the contact details of the insurer on all your documents and on your travel agency’s website.
C) Registration of your travel agency
The registration of your agency will be done through the Register of Travel and Stay Operators. Among the documents that will be requested from you, there will be the financial guarantee certificate and CPR insurance. To contact the Register of Travel and Stay Operators, you will need to contact Atout France.
You can then apply for your registration online by carefully following the steps on the platform. This approach will cost you €100, a commission received by Atout France. You should also know, before creating a travel agency, that your registration must be renewed every three years.
IV/ Choosing a legal form
Because a travel agency carries out a commercial activity, it will be the CCI formalities center (Chamber of Commerce) to receive your registration. This was an important point to remember.
Now, you can choose your legal status. And the choice is wide. Indeed, your travel agency can take all the legal forms that exist, namely:
- micro-enterprises;
- companies such as SARL, SAS, etc.
- Individual enterprise
Although some laws offer advantages, others do not suit a travel agency very well. Study your needs and choose your legal status accordingly.
V/ Summary of the steps to set up your travel agency
First, you must imagine and design a concept. However, do not take the risk of validating it without having conducted a thorough market study! Next, you need to establish a financial forecast. After this process, you must contact travel providers, design your own offers, and present them in a summary document: the business plan. Prepare the various files that will be presented to the different organizations. You will then be able to research and obtain the various financial aids for the creation of your travel agency. Then, you need to take out RCR insurance. Only after this step will you be able to apply for and obtain your Atout France number. Finally, once you have set up your office and your work tools, you can start your communication and begin your activities as a travel agency.
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