10 Tips to start your own Online Travel Agency (OTA)
The travel industry is growing fast and is among the largest industries in the world. There is a vast scope for growth of your startup Online Travel Agencies (OTA’s) due to the ever-increasing demand for the services from the travelers globally.
An online travel agency is easier to start, but there is fierce competition to tackle. There are many established companies as well new entrants who will be your direct competitors. So in this highly competitive market how do you make yourself a go-to-provider of travel services? How would you establish your new Online Travel Agency (OTAs) in the travel market?
Below we provide some useful tips to help you in establishing an Online Travel Agencies successfully:
#1 Carry out market research & determine your Niche:
There are many travel agencies operating in a given locality. So you should do everything to stand out from the competition. The perfect way is to do a market research and find out what kind of service the local community needs. For example, people in your locality may require a travel agency that provides adventure tour packages than relaxing on the beach.
In this way, find your Niche (Specialty). You have to know it inside out. Nowadays travelers don’t simply book tickets through agencies. They expect a whole lot more. You should be able to provide strong recommendations according to the requirements & preferences of your customers. So it’s important you should know your niche well to compete efficiently in a given market.
#2 Create an Effective Business Plan.
Having an effective business plan is very important for effectively managing a business including an online travel agency. A business plan is a guide you will be walking on the coming days. In this way, you will have a picture of how you will be fiscally managing some significant business issues and the amount you will spend on enlisting staffs or equipment assuming if any. Sometimes you need to spend a considerable amount of time, potentially months, in setting up your travel agency.
Having an effective plan will enable you to limit on what your objectives are, and set up a reasonable vision going ahead. The travel industries are very competitive and having a well-defined business plan will help you stand out from the rest.
#3 Determine your funding strategy for your business.
While starting your own travel agency one more critical thing to remember is funding strategy. Where will you get funds for your online travel agency? An online travel agency (OTA) will require lower funds compared to setting up a brick and motor agency. When creating your own Online Travel Agency you may need funds for developing a professional website. Then funding may be required for various materials like flyers, business cards, marketing purpose, and hiring staff and to meet the various unexpected expenses.
But how will you obtain funds to run your own Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)? You can opt for various funding resources varying from personal savings, borrowing loans, capital funding. You can also borrow funds from relatives or friends to conduct your business during the early days.
So it’s very critical to have an effective business plan. Lenders will evaluate your business plan before deciding on the amount of money they will lend.
#4 Consider all the legal aspects.
Setting up your own travel agency, for the most part, is easy to set up when it comes to legal formalities. Many countries have relaxed their rules regarding licensing for the travel industries. But there are few countries which have stringent rules for providing licenses when setting up a travel agency. So it's important you check and fulfill all the necessary requirements so that you can get the license for your Online Travel Agency.
Besides specific licenses, you may also need general licenses such as Limited Liability Company [LLC]. So it’s very important to cover all legal aspects before setting up your business.
#5 Choose the Right Location:
When setting up your own online travel agency it is important to find a convenient area. When selecting a business location, you should pay attention to the pedestrian activity. You should also give equal consideration to workspace whether it is sufficient to fit your current team as well as future extensions if any.
#6 Focus on Branding Your Travel Agency.
Once you have figured how to set up your own online travel agency, it’s important to focus on creating a strong brand image of your travel agency. Branding is all about how you want to make your customers feel about your travel brand. What unique experience you can provide to your customers? Give a precise answer to all such questions which in turn helps you to create your branding image.
You should also focus on creating a unique logo for your organization. Ensure that you have an appealing logo that can pass on a message to your potential clients. Your target audience will see your logo everywhere on your advertisements, brochures, websites, etc.
#7 Go for Vigorous advertising
At the beginning, not many people will be aware of your company and what service you offer. So its necessary to launch active advertising campaigns to reach out to large audiences. You can create brochures and upload it on your website for your online visitors so that they can download those brochures and know more about the services provided your travel agencies.
You can also opt for email marketing, newspaper ads and other advertisements mode to promote your companies.
#8 Have an active presence in Social Media:
Social Media Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram act as a powerful medium to start and operate your online travel business. These social media tools can be used as marketing platforms to target more clients. You can share about new deals, packages, offers etc on your social media pages.
#9 Optimize your travel website:
There are 1000’s of travel websites on the web. People use search engines like Google, Yahoo etc to find out about travel websites. They are likely on the website that is there on the first page. So if your website is not ranking on the first page for various keywords then you may have fewer visitors.
Therefore it is important to optimize your travel websites for various keywords the customers may search on the web. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very critical to run an online business successfully.
#10 Maintain good customer relationship
Reviews matters a lot. People check reviews to know the organization in a better way. So if you can provide an option for your customers to write review on your website, your prospective buyers will appreciate it.
Encourage your customers who are satisfied with their trip to write something on the website. When the potential customers who visit your website, and read positive reviews from old customers, they are likely to purchase your services.
With Trawex’s innovative travel software, you can fully automate booking process, sell products & establish a better business corporation with your partners to enhance your travel business. Trawex has built the foundations for worlds top Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and we are here to help you spread your wings and dominate the travel industry.
Want to start your own Online Travel Agency (OTAs)? We have more than decade experience delivering solid, seamless online travel platforms for some of the world’s most renowned travel brands. For more details visit: www.trawex.com
