Can I sell "do-it-yourself travel"? Travel Consultant: Assistant or Charlatan? Organization of independent travel.
Is it profitable to travel on your own? It is almost always more profitable to travel without the mediation of travel agencies. It is unprofitable to travel without vouchers only in certain cases: last-minute tours to all mass visa-free destinations (, Turkey, Montenegro), popular short exotics (, Dominican Republic, Goa, Bali), short-term tours to European countries (for example, Prague for a week).
In all other cases, driving on your own is very, very inexpensive and much more interesting. Undoubtedly, such a journey requires responsibility during the trip. Unlike ready-made group package tours, here no one will take you by the hand and bring you to the next sovereign stores, where you, prompted by chance and other people's interests, will definitely buy something. Traveling on your own, you plan your route yourself, choosing the countries and cities that you need. Any order of cities, any country, any date, any duration, any accommodation from a hotel to a lighthouse, any means of transportation.
No one but yourself can limit your desires. Did you want to fly to Paris, then to Sardinia, and from there by boat to Corsica, then to Rome and finish your trip in Prague? No problem! Do you need an aunt in Germany or a girl in Spain for a month? It couldn't be easier. , South Korea? Everything becomes close and inexpensive when a tour has a CAM prefix.
All you need is a calendar and a geographic map to select the date and country. Some travel agencies call this "individual tourism" and these tours are extremely expensive. If you travel on your own, then it will cost several times cheaper.
Any trip consists of 3 main components: transport, accommodation and visa.
1. Transport
There are many ways to buy low-cost airline tickets. There are general principles for buying airline tickets that can save you money. First, the earlier you buy your flights, the more likely you are to find fares at a low price. Conversely, if you look for tickets a few days before departure, then the price can be an unpleasant surprise. Secondly, it is better to buy air tickets for regular flights without third-party agencies (air ticket offices), which take their commission for issuing tickets. To be always aware of cheap air tickets, you can regularly view the special offers section, where we post all the most interesting and relevant offers from airlines.
2. Housing
One of the main points of planning a route is finding accommodation. Here you can let your imagination run wild: designer hotels, rooftop hostels, motels on the plane, chic 5 * palaces and modest shacks on the seashore. You can rent apartments, guesthouses, hostels or stay for free through the Hospitality Club. Read more in the article
Kirill Khromov chose the most unusual travel services.
Any business starts with an idea. And as Albert Einstein said: "If at the first moment an idea does not seem absurd, it is hopeless." I can name many companies based on bold, even crazy ideas. But thanks to the talent and work of the founders and teams, these incredible ideas become reality. The travel industry in this regard is fertile ground: here you can create and experiment with almost no restrictions.
Aggregators for finding cheap tickets and hotels are no longer surprising (the number of Russian Skyscanner users grew by 60% in 2015), but new projects regularly appear that try to make the life of tourists easier. We have selected the most trendy, interesting and unusual startups that are confidently gaining popularity and changing the way we think about travel.
1) Startuptravels is a great resource for startups and investors
Imagine: you have come to an unfamiliar city on business. You need to meet with a client or find an office space, but you have no friends or acquaintances here, and you will have to look for all the information yourself.
In the past, you could spend several hours looking for the contacts you need. And with Startuptravels, this can be done in a few clicks. It is a business guide and communication platform that Dane Anders Hasselstrom came up with when he had to make frequent work trips in 2014. He set out to develop a service that would connect local and visiting entrepreneurs: thanks to Startuptravels, you can get to know the person you need, ask for help in finding local suppliers or resources for a project, or just find a company of interest for the duration of your trip.
Now Startuptravels already has more than 30 such business travel guides in different cities. I often move around the world and know firsthand that on a business trip the whole day is scheduled in minutes, and the application can save a lot of time. In addition, since the fall of 2015, they provide the opportunity to stay in one of 30 coworking spaces around the world for free.
2) Gogobot - travel planning app
An indispensable app for DIY travel enthusiasts: Gogobot makes it easy to plan trips, make itineraries and timetables for each day. Information is synchronized with multiple devices.
In the best traditions of travel networking, Gogobot provides access to other users' reviews of hotels, restaurants, attractions and entertainment. And thanks to the function Tribes, you can find people with similar interests and find out what places they like. Google called Gogobot "a social network for travelers": the application allows you to create a "passport" of travel and share experiences, post photos, leave reviews and send postcards.
3) IQPlanner - a service for intelligent travel planning
Another travel planning app that solves non-standard tasks and tackles difficult routes.
The Russian service IQPlanner is a travel designer with which you can find and book tickets, hotels and entertainment without leaving one application.
Let's say you plan to visit several cities in a row in the next month, but have not yet decided exactly when and in what order. IQPlanner will analyze ticket and hotel prices in a given time interval and suggest the best order and dates of your visit. At the same time, the application takes into account not only your wishes, but also the experience of previous trips.
IQPlanner is currently in beta testing phase, so you have the opportunity to influence how it looks in the future.
4) Porter & Sail - premium electronic concierge
Marketers say personalization is the future. It's nice to see travel projects for which the future has already come!
The Porter & Sail mobile app is a godsend for those who are accustomed to the comfort of boutique hotels and expect a similar level of service beyond them. The service is available for guests of the partner hotels of the application. While staying in one of these, guests have access to personalized travel guides with tips from local guides and seasoned travelers.
The Porter & Sail team carefully selects content (the app design deserves special attention) and entrusts its creation to the best invited experts, including locals and celebrities - Moby, for example. As a result, users receive a specially selected list of places where they can dine, dance, shop or spiritually enrich themselves.
If you find yourself nearby, the app sends you notifications. Thus, the whole city becomes a boutique hotel for you.
5) App in the Air - personal travel assistant
This application will appeal to travelers who like to keep everything under control. App in the Air tracks flight information and helps you find your way around the airport.
The app works on all iOS devices, including Apple smartwatches, so you don't even have to take your phone out of your smartphone pocket to read updates.
You can create a checklist for each trip directly in the application, check in for a flight and find out information about the airports of departure and arrival. It's also great to have an airport map handy when you need to fly to a connected flight, isn't it?
6) Sustain: Green is an eco-startup that saves rainforests
For travelers looking to reduce their carbon footprint ( carbon footprint) the Sustain: Green credit card was introduced. The card is made from biodegradable material and every purchase is rewarded to cardholders to support the Brazilian Rainforest Restoration Fund. In a personal online account, users can find out their "carbon footprint" and follow the dynamics of its reduction.
7) Charity Arcade - play Pac-Man and help the Red Cross
Although this service is out of the list of applications, I can't help but tell you about it.
European airports are rapidly picking up innovation: have fun before departure, get rid of the tidbits of your vacation, and help a charity at two airports in Sweden. Instead of the usual donation box, the creators of the Charity Arcade project have installed several classic slot machines in airport terminals with all their favorite games - Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Galaga. The machines accept any currency, and all the money goes to the needs of the Red Cross.
8) StokeShare - shared consumption for extreme lovers
We have already talked about the growing popularity of Experiential Tavel and the fact that more and more companies are moving into this segment. At VIVAster, for example, new suppliers of extreme tours are constantly appearing. But for those who prefer to travel on their own or want to save money on equipment, there is an excellent resource StokeShare.
This online platform is where travelers from all over the world rent and rent trekking, climbing and diving gear, surfboards, snowboards and skis, canoes, kayaks and more. StokeShare charges a small percentage of every successful transaction.
9) Hopper - find cheap flights and book in 10 seconds
Hopper not only finds the cheapest flights, but also suggests the best time to buy. The service's creators claim that their proprietary "price prediction" technology helps users save up to 40% on tickets, and 95% of the time Hopper finds options cheaper than the competition.
The app stores your data and billing information, and to book a ticket you don't have to go to third-party sites - the whole process will take no more than 10 seconds.
You can track the flights you want and get notified if the price has changed. The "price prediction" function will tell you whether to book your ticket now or to wait. And in the calendar of “profitable flights” the days with the lowest prices for tickets in the direction you need are highlighted in bright color.
10) Overnight - last minute accommodation booking
Did you delay your flight, suddenly change your plans, or just want some spontaneity? The Overnight app will help you urgently find accommodation in an unfamiliar city: indicate where you would like to stay, and the owners of accommodation in this area will receive a notification. If they are ready to accept you, then they respond to the request and inform the rental conditions, and you decide whether this option suits you or not.
The types of housing can be very different: from an empty bed or a room to an entire apartment. The creators of the app take security seriously, so when registering, users must provide a Facebook profile link and phone number, bank account, and credit card number.
The Hotel Tonight service works according to a similar model, which offers to book a hotel on the day of arrival (or a little earlier) with a discount.
The money spent on the wind is the use of the services of vyak visa assisted, as well as the use of the services of companies that implement ideas for travel. This is my opinion. Every week I receive several letters with a proposal to take up the organization of someone's trip on a commercial basis, in response I send the already prepared text with a refusal. One of the reasons: I am simply not interested in doing other people's trips, although I am happy to plan the most interesting joint trips with my family and friends. But there is a second reason, which is more significant. The other day in the news release there was a story about a new "profession" - travel consultant ... Ie. the person who selects the route for you, book the air ticket-hotel-car, etc. The plot was about some young couple from Kiev with a combined income of $ 2,000 and their style of budget travel followed by travel consulting. Actually, this was the reason for expressing my opinion, since the topic is very close to me.
KDPV: Peruvian children in a high-mountain village tickle a pig :) We are moving along a non-standard detour to Machu Picchu ...
Nobody will offer you such a tour, but I shared it without any problems.
Like any consulting business, private travel consulting has a right to exist. After all, a service is provided, time is saved, or rather the client's time (potentially necessary for organizing a trip) is converted into payment for the service. Everything seems to be fair and transparent, but ...
"Against":
Of course, I know several sites that are engaged in a similar service. How it works? It's very simple: a mailing list comes from the airline with promotional offers in one direction or another, an approximate route is formed and an hour later the announcement "Travel far, far away for only 999.90 with flight and hotel" is ready. Everything is very predictable, because an hour earlier and in my mailbox there was a letter about the airline's action. The traveler is offered a route and an idea for money, while there is no responsibility in the event of force majeure, because this is not a travel agency and not a sale of a finished tour. Those. in simple words, if a person is ready for an independent (!) journey, then why turn to someone for ideas? Why not come up with something yourself? Not to delve into the technology of organizing travel, obtaining a visa, etc.? Something goes wrong and the person becomes a hostage of his own rash "independence".
The question of moral principles and responsibility of travel consultants, this is exclusively my point of view.
Well, an independent dream trip is built from your own idea and its achievement, otherwise how does it differ from a burning package tour? Only on your own will you find amazing hotels, places of interest and the feeling of a "discoverer"!
What do you think about travel consulting? Please share in the comments.
Who supports the idea of such a service - how much are you willing to pay (percentage, fixed amount, etc.)?
Is it possible to sell a turnkey independent travel organization?
Sure. Everything in the world is for sale. Money is the engine, etc.
68 (23.4 % )
I am neutral, who needs it - let him buy
156 (53.8 % )
Negatively. An independent journey begins with organizing it on your own
66 (22.8 % )
So, if you suddenly want to pay someone for an interesting independent travel plan, know all this you can easily find for FREE.
Just read about " Budget Travel Technologies"on alexcheban blog:
Today, the service of organizing individual travel is becoming more and more popular among citizens of Europe and the United States. This type of offer allows you to organize a trip taking into account individual wishes. In Russia, such a proposal is just beginning to appear, since until recently, many citizens of the state were embraced by the idea of collective travel abroad, requiring incredibly high costs. Due to their illiteracy and inexperience, our compatriots do not understand and do not accept the information that an individual travel can be much more exciting and economical. Traveling in this way, you can broaden your horizons, not being limited to a vacation in a five-star hotel and meals on an all-inclusive basis.
Benefits of individual tourism organized by a travel company
Organizing a business in the field of individual tourism requires the knowledge and experience of entrepreneurs. This will make it possible to compose an exciting travel program and save costs on its implementation, thereby attracting customers with an ideal price-quality ratio. For example, knowing the Baltics firsthand, you can organize a tour with a visit to its attractions for about the same cost as a vacation in Crimea, on the territory of one resort. The choice in favor of an organized individual travel and independent travel to other countries is obvious, since the first proposal implies fewer risks associated with any possible difficulties of staying outside the borders of the native state, which often arise for less experienced tourists. Going on a trip without intermediaries, you have to rely only on yourself. Traveling according to the approved individual tourism program, you eliminate the risks associated with booking accommodation, tickets, obtaining visas, etc. In addition, independent travel arrangements require tourists to have additional free time, knowledge, organizational skills and confidence. All this is not typical for all potential travelers. Therefore, it is easier for them to contact a travel agency, travel planning service and specializing in organizing individual tourist trips to anywhere in the world and at any time. Large travel agencies are rarely interested in doing this kind of activity, as it takes too much time and effort with a relatively low return on investment. In other words, the niche of organizing individual travel is not yet occupied and is a prospect for those wishing to organize their own small business.
The profitability of services for organizing individual tourist trips is about 30%, which is very decent for business. You should also not be afraid of possible problems that may arise during the implementation of services for organizing individual tourist trips. Myths such as the impossibility of obtaining visas, or booking single rooms in foreign hotels, the lack of demand for such an offer, are just tales of lazy, insecure people or competing firms.
Every day, Internet search engines record an increase in requests for individual travel and services providing this kind of service. Therefore, experienced tourists who want to organize their own business to generate income should step up and create a business in this niche. World statistics confirms the relevance of this business idea. Approximately 30% of all travelers travel abroad on their own, refusing expensive travel services. At the same time, they would not refuse the help of a specialist and are ready to pay for organizing an individual trip in order to save personal time.
There are positive examples of business organization in the field of individual travel planning services in Russia. Therefore, you should not be afraid to start your own business in this direction of the economy.
Business organization for planning individual tourist trips
The main goal of such an enterprise and service is to provide assistance and train tourists to travel on their own outside the borders of their native state. Such services cost much less than travel agencies traditionally charge their clients, since the services do not spend money on printing brochures and organizing other advertising campaigns that attract tourists. Already after the first trip with the help of the service, its clients destroy the main psychological barriers and fears of an individual trip abroad, which does not happen in the course of cooperation with traditional tour operators.
Services that organize individual trips abroad work according to the principle - the client plans his vacation, and the service helps to organize it! Some clients will return to the service again and again, as they have no time to solve organizational issues. Others, having used it at least once, will advise the company's services to their friends and relatives, pointing out all the advantages of such cooperation.
Competent planning of an individual trip is a business success
When making plans for an individual trip, an entrepreneur must take into account three main points - budget, country, personal wishes. Experienced tourists are well aware that the main expense of any trip is moving. The cost of air tickets or tickets for another type of international transport is always high. Therefore, it is the main tool in the formation of the travel budget. You can save on travel or flight costs. To this end, responsible individual travel services recommend their clients to plan their vacation at least three months in advance.
It is important to post relevant recommendations on the company's website so that clients initially understand where to start planning their upcoming trip. A correctly chosen hotel will help to save your vacation budget. It is best to choose a place to stay in the center, closer to the attractions that a tourist wants to visit, or to the beach. This will save transportation costs directly during the trip. All these subtleties should be negotiated with the clients of a service specializing in organizing individual travel. Satisfied customers are the key to any business. This can be achieved through a competent approach and high-quality performance of your work. You should not limit the company's services to certain regions. Should work in different tourist destinations.
The cost of business services for organizing individual tourism should depend on the complexity of the route. In individual situations, it takes a lot of time to work it out (booking accommodation, buying tickets, obtaining special permits, etc.). For example, the service of organizing a trip to a European country for citizens of the Russian Federation should be an order of magnitude cheaper than to a country in Asia, America, or Australia. At the same time, the aggregate price of rest (spending on organization services + payment for the trip itself) should not be higher than the offers of large travel agencies. This will help build a customer base.
Too high cost of business services for organizing individual travel will force the consumer to turn to trusted travel companies, of which there are more than 10,000 on the Russian market. Those who want to save money will turn to Internet services for travelers, specialized forums and databases with thematic reviews. By the way, the latter will be useful in organizing your own business for the formation of individual tourist trips, as they will allow you to draw the necessary information about the rest in a particular country. Thinking about the high competition of business in organizing individual trips abroad is stupid, since this area of business has its own audience. As a rule, these are thrifty people, tired of banal tourist offers, overly busy people. If an entrepreneur can please them with a high-quality organization, a proposed direction, a recreation program, at a relatively affordable price, then his business will develop rapidly.
conclusions
The organization of a successful small business in the field of assistance in planning individual tourist travel is based on services such as: searching for travel offers, buying air tickets, booking hotel rooms, road transport, etc. By filling these gaps, an entrepreneur is guaranteed to gain the trust of his clients once and forever and ever!
Going on vacation or traveling abroad, you are looking for answers to questions that arise in the process of organizing this trip.
Look for answers on the Internet or seek advice from more experienced friends or acquaintances.
This is a natural process of organizing your vacation, your independent travel - a natural desire not to make a mistake, not to overpay, and in general you want the long-awaited rest from the daily routine to be five.
When I created this blog last year, I tried to pay maximum attention to such moments that I sometimes forget and read my notes to remember, for example, the sequence of steps for obtaining a US visa.
I hoped that with these articles I would slightly reduce my mail correspondence with private, and sometimes banal from my point of view, questions addressed to Vinsky.
But it was not there - there were even more letters.
I cannot devote much time to sorting out situations that arise when obtaining a visa or when booking a hotel, because there is no cure for everything right away.
You need to understand any situation and you often have to go into the search and read the regulatory documents that I do not need at the moment in order to answer the question posed to me.
And so I began to understand that people simply do not know that there is an information forum for independent travelers, which is specially created so that people receive first-hand information from people who have been in the same situation and who have the opportunity to answer objectively and in full.
I have already deciphered the structure of the Vinsky Forum. It is logical and understandable. ...
Finding information on the forum is easy: use the search.
Well, if you did not find the answer to your question by searching, or you want to chat with some person who wants to ask clarifying questions, then you need to register at the Vinsky Forum.
By clicking the submit button you agree that you will comply.
In order for your registration on the forum to become active, you need to click on the link that comes in the notification letter from the forum to the email you specified
Sometimes mail servers send similar notifications generated automatically by the forum to spam folders, so if the notification did not come to your email within 10 minutes, you need to check the spam folder (gmail, yandex) of your mail service and mark the message found from the forum as “not spam”.
So, you are registered on the forum and want to create your own topic with a question, ask a question in an existing topic or send a private message to a forum member.
You can create a topic, you can send a message to someone else's topic. But it will not appear on the forum right away - in order to combat spam and Internet hooliganism - the user's first message is pre-moderated. If the message complies with the rules of the forum, the moderators approve it and in the future you can write on the forum directly without pre-moderation.
You cannot send private messages to users as long as you do not have a single message on the forum. As soon as you get a message, the PM will be opened.
Having chosen a place where to post your question as a separate topic, try to title the topic as fully and clearly as possible. Thus, you attract the attention of those who can objectively answer your question even if he has not entered this section for a long time - new messages appear on the main page of the forum and are visible to everyone.
Topics titled incomprehensibly and monosyllabic like “there is a question” are ignored.
When someone replies to your topic, you will receive a notification about this to the email specified during registration.
The forum has topics compiled by the section moderators, which are usually attached to the top of the topic list. As a rule, the abbreviation FAQ appears in the title - as a rule, these topics contain answers to frequently asked questions.
In general, the forum, which can be called the people's encyclopedia of independent travelers, is full and comprehensive information that will help you in organizing your trip.
Also presented is a proven and recommended toolkit for years of use, with which you can.
