The love of travel has been around for a long time. Trips to exotic and historical places abroad and in the native country, and simply to beautiful places, have long won interest. Travel business has conquered the market for a long time, but tour agencies are not so widely represented on it. In the light of recent events that have taken place in the tourism market, it can be assumed that interest in traveling in Russia will increase. Therefore, the opening of tour desks will be very relevant. An in-depth study of the features and history of the native land will allow you to occupy a niche in this business. To do this, you need to prepare interesting excursion routes.
The sights that are indicated in the guidebooks can be used, supplementing them with other aspects of historical heritage and interesting places, developing interesting routes for young people, offering an additional entertainment scenario, with the possibility of short-term tent camps. These can be visits to rare and unique places with a natural magical theme, excursions to forgotten monuments and surroundings, sightseeing tours to places of glory of great people and fellow countrymen.
Having decided to organize such a bureau, it is necessary to study the tourism legislation, this is the Federal Law “On the Basics of Tourism Activities in Russian Federation» dated November 24, 1996 No. 132-FZ. This type of activity is subject to a simplified tax (6%).
To open an office, you do not need to purchase a license or other special permission. You will need: registration of an individual entrepreneur or LLC; independently developed contracts for the provision of services; contracts with transport organizations, museums, points Catering; job descriptions for staff; reminders for tourists.
When calculating the cost of the services provided, it is necessary to take into account the prices of competitors, average salary residents to make tours available to those who wish.
Opening office space is important condition(small, neat). For the convenience of customers, it should be located on the ground floor, with a convenient location, parking. Signage should be bright and attractive.
You can advertise your services on the Internet (social networks, forums), print media, create your own website, and in the future, the so-called "word of mouth" will work. After all, local residents will also show interest.
The big positive advantage of such a business is that, with an initial low cost, it has wide opportunities for expansion.
Minimum for opening a tour agency:
- $200-300 - office rent;
- $100-$200 - company website creation
- $500 - advertising
- $800-900 - office furniture
- from $1000 - office equipment
- $500 per person (per month) - manager's salary
- from $300 (per month) - accountant salary
The approximate amount is about $3400-3700.
For several years now, from time to time, I organize group tours for yourself, your child, our friends and total strangers you meet on the OSD site.
These are completely non-commercial undertakings, sometimes at a loss. Often I don’t have time for this at all, but I still find it :-).
Sometimes I decide that I need to stop all this and go to museums, like everyone else normal people. But then I do it again. Because now we are bored of going to museums, like all normal people. We expect more from these trips - communication with extraordinary person.
I warn you right away, I collect groups only of children accompanied by adults. I am afraid to take responsibility for the behavior and safety of other people's children.
In my classification, excursions are divided into those that take place with a private guide, and official ones. In the latter case, the organizer gathers a group and simply buys a ticket to the museum. This is a completely meaningful step where there are special programs for organized groups or individual visits are limited. It is important to understand who will lead you. Otherwise, the effort and money spent may turn out to be, in the end, a serious pity: a bad story can easily spoil the impression of the best exposition.
How to choose? You can use the advice of the tour desk, but your and their ideas of beauty may not match. There is a proven way, but it requires a certain amount of time. You go to the museum you need at the peak excursion time (this is what the tour desk will tell you for sure), listen and look closely. As soon as you find a guide that is pleasant to you, you are interested in his name and surname from any member of the group led by him.
Excursions with a private guide, as a rule, begin just with a charismatic personality - the guide. Finding such a person can be very different. It happens - someone recommended. Or met the museum by chance unique person. How to prolong the happiness of communication? The most obvious option is to assemble a group. Especially if the guide doesn't mind.
If, as is often the case, you want to go on an excursion in the company of acquaintances and friends, we invite them. We call, set up an event page on Facebook or Vkontakte and collect them - acquaintances and acquaintances of acquaintances. However, here right amount participants, especially regular participants in the cycle of excursions, are provided with difficulty: sometimes they get sick, sometimes they are busy ...
This is where the forum on the site comes to the rescue, where you can recruit the missing participants in the upcoming tour.
If your excursion is purchased at the tour desk of the museum, or another place where you want to go - you are on "private excursions". We read the rules and look at an example of the design of the theme.
Do not be afraid :-), despite the strict rules - everything is simple. In the image and likeness of the example, make up your own topic (you can see how others design themes) and boldly start it. It will not appear immediately, first it will be checked for compliance with the rules. For a guarantee, you can make a scan of the ticket :). If someone else is interested in your tour, they will sign up for you.
If you have an excursion with a private guide, or you order a bus - you are in "commercial excursions". Here we also read the rules, look at the example and topics of other organizers.
But before adding a topic, you need to register and write to the address [email protected] site access request. Do not forget to provide information about what excursion you would like to organize (everything that will be in the topic). :-)
Particular attention when formulating the conditions for participation should be paid to the age of the children, because some excursions can be very "lose" in interest if the guide adapts to younger children. And be prepared that someone, despite clear conditions, will still bring younger children with the words "yes, he / she understands everything with me." Decide ahead of time and let the participants know how strict your age requirements are.
When the group is recruited, it would be nice to have a "reserve" (that is, people who would like to go, but do not get into the group because it has already been recruited). After all, if someone gets sick, or refuses at the last moment (this happens very often), a rezev can help out the organizer.
For organizers of both private and official excursions, it is acute financial question. The money paid for the ticket or promised to the guide must be returned. And if the amount is divided by the number of participants, then the refusal of several participants at the last moment will put the organizer in front of a choice - to pay their money. or require additional payment from the other participants of the tour.
But the amount of costs that fall on each participant in this case should be feasible and more or less within the predetermined limits. Therefore prosaic, but important task organizer - to provide a quorum or financial guarantees. There are different methods.
1. You can collect money for the tour in advance - to an electronic wallet or phone bill. Risk: in case of cancellation, return strangers money is harder than raising. And to set the condition of no return in case of refusal to participate is not acceptable for many from an ethical point of view.
2. If you organize a cycle of excursions and you have a permanent group, you can collect money for the cycle. If someone cannot and warned in advance, his funds are carried over to the next time. If he did not warn and therefore did not have time to find a replacement, the "dynam player" financially suffers, and not those who honestly came on the tour. True, such a scheme for the organizer is a whole job with real accounting and a lot of responsibility.
3. I do it simply - I write to a group of people with a small "margin". Sometimes there are too many of them, but sometimes there is a very low turnout. Moreover, not everyone is warned in advance. Still, it's easier for me to pay more than to be responsible for other people's money.
In general, remember - the more detail you formulate and more clearly inform future participants of the conditions for participation in the excursion (including financial ones, including payment methods, the requirement to pay without change, etc., return conditions, etc.) - the less then there will be problems with participants you do not know in advance.
And a couple of final tips:
It is desirable to appoint a group gathering indoors and in an obvious place 15 minutes before the expected departure time of the group. This way there will be fewer latecomers.
It is advisable to settle the issues of collecting money before the start, in fact, of the tour. Firstly, it is indecent and unaesthetic to shake money in the middle of the temple of culture. Secondly, you all pay the same money to listen to the guide, it is so stupid to be distracted by calculations. Therefore, if the money is collected in cash before the tour, it is better to either meet a little earlier, or set a condition to bring the amount without change. And anyway, you should have change :-), because. some forget / do not read, etc.
All participants must have the organizer's phone number, this is obvious. But it is just as convenient to have the phone numbers of prospective participants - in case you need to clarify and find.
If the organizer has the opportunity to prepare "badges" with the names or "nicknames" of the participants and distribute them, it will be easier not to mix up the names and address people, and, of course, find out who is "your" :-). And since "Badge" is issued only to those who paid - it's easy to see who came at the last moment and apply for payment.
Given the general employment, it is advisable to plan an excursion at least a month before the date of the event.
Traveling can be called one of the most popular and vibrant human hobbies. Many people love to travel to new places, filling their lives with unforgettable travel experiences. Not every resident of Russia can afford a vacation abroad, but he has access to excursions to interesting places in his country. IN Lately the number of people wishing to discover the amazing corners of the Russian Federation has greatly increased, and this circumstance has served as an impetus for business people to engage in excursion business.
Every entrepreneur has questions: how to open a tour desk, how much money you need to invest in the business at the start, whether the business will bring profit and where to start this process. It turns out that the organization of tourism activities is not difficult, and a person interested in it can easily build such a business and achieve success in it.
Starting a Business - Activity Planning
Before you start organizing any business, you need to make a plan. It will include the following items:
- Studying the demand market and the activities of competitors.
- Choosing an office for the future bureau.
- Selection of necessary documents for business.
- Development of excursion routes.
- Solving transport issues.
- Recruitment.
- Advertising campaign.
After collecting, studying and analyzing all the necessary information, the businessman must draw up a business plan for his future enterprise and calculate the approximate costs of opening it.
And now about all this in more detail.
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Study of tourism legislation, preparation of documents for business
Having decided to organize a business in the field of tourism, a businessman must study tourism legislation, and then prepare the documents necessary to open his own business. The main law that defines the principles of state policy in the field of tourism and regulates the rights and obligations of owners of tour agencies and their clients is the Federal Law "On the Basics of Tourism in the Russian Federation" dated November 24, 1996, N 132-FZ.
In order to better imagine future activities, experienced businessmen advise beginners to attend special thematic courses, for example, "Organization of a travel agency from A to Z." Such firm courses and consulting groups are held monthly and even provide their listeners with ready-made sets of all the documents necessary for the excursion business.
To open a tour desk, a business person in the Russian Federation does not need to acquire a license or other special permission. All that is required of him is the registration of an individual entrepreneur or legal entity. As the main documents, in addition to the registration certificate, it will be necessary to have independently developed service contracts, contracts with transport companies, museums, catering points, job descriptions for staff, and memos for sightseers.
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Demand market, competition study and development of excursion routes
Any novice entrepreneur understands that his business will be profitable if there is a demand for services. Therefore, in order to organize a tour desk in hometown, you need to see if this city, its environs or settlements located at a short distance from it, a large number attractions and beautiful places. After all, before you start developing routes to the same Moscow or Suzdal, other distant cities, you must first try to conduct excursions closer to the "home". There are many amazing places in Russia with a rich history and beautiful nature.
If there is already a tour desk in the city, it will be useful to familiarize yourself with the offers and routes of competitors. When setting the cost of excursions, you need to focus on the average salary of city residents and think about how much they can pay for the trip. The main criterion is the availability of the tour for everyone, and although the price should be made more attractive than that of competitors, it should not be too low.
When developing a route plan, several factors must be considered. Firstly, you must definitely study the history of your native land, its customs, get acquainted with the biographies of famous countrymen. To do this, you will need to visit the local museum of local lore, talk with its employees, look through books about your region and chat with old-timers who will gladly tell you about interesting legends and past events.
Secondly, routes should be developed taking into account the age audience. If these are excursions for children, you should definitely introduce elements of entertainment into them, organize game moments, for example, dress up the guide as a fairy-tale character, come up with a thematic competition, etc. Children's excursions should not be prolonged in time, because children quickly lose interest in one and the same occupation.
Thirdly, you need to carefully work out the time spent on each route (from 45 minutes to the whole day), provide for stops along the way, recommend a cafe for lunch. If the tour takes several days, it requires tourists to spend the night in a hotel and provide them with food.
Fourthly, the plan for visiting city attractions should differ from the plan of competitors, for this purpose it is advisable to select other monuments for a city tour or, in addition to the main program, include in it “not promoted”, but interesting places which can be visited at an additional cost. The more interesting and unusual the tour, the more people who want to visit it, because "the earth is full of rumors."
An important circumstance is the conduct of an advertising campaign. In addition to advertisements in the media, handouts, booklets in stores, advertising in in social networks it is necessary to create a website on the Internet, thanks to which large quantity learns about the bureau, sees the plan of excursions, gets acquainted in detail with their program and prices for them.
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Office for the tour desk and its staff
Business on initial stage implies minimum flow Money. Therefore, the organizer of the bureau is at first almost its only employee. In his own apartment, he can receive calls from those who want to go on an excursion or conduct it himself. But over time, the presence of an office becomes a necessity, as well as an increase in the number of employees. It is better to find a room for an office in a busy place so that it catches the eye of many. A bright sign and a beautiful showcase are a must. Interior decoration The office should not be too expensive or extremely "soviet", but cozy and bright, so that the client feels comfortable in it.
The main employee of the bureau is the guide. He must be a competent specialist, have a well-trained, pleasant voice, and be endearing. He needs to constantly learn something new about the sights and famous people, adding Interesting Facts in the texts of excursions. In addition to tour guides, the company will need an accountant, a manager and drivers. The head of the bureau can agree with the transport company on the provision of certain days buses for routes, a larger company has its own transport and drivers.
Instruction
The development of the route is the first thing you need to start drawing up an excursion plan. If the tour is planned in one place (palace, museum, etc.), consider a group scheme for this place in accordance with the plan of the building (or area). Write down where it will start, the group will spend near each exhibit, how long the tour will take in total and what time it will end.
If you plan an excursion around with visits to several attractions, plan an excursion as well, having worked out optimal scheme movement according to the situation.
The second stage is writing the text of the excursion. The text should not be in conflict with historical facts, so when writing an excursion, make references to those sources from where you get information. After all, if some listener disagrees with you and tries to challenge what was said, you can always tell him where your information comes from and how to check it.
The key to an ideal excursion is a guide who himself knows what he is talking about. In addition, it is worth possessing such qualities as tolerance, attention to the requests of sightseers and the ability to surprise them with details known only to you. You can also tell well-known facts, but present them with unique questions, actively addressing the group, trying to involve them in the study of the proposed area.
Recently, excursions have become popular, the main group for which is young people - this is Moscow at night, night visits to museums. You can borrow the idea and organize such a route in your own, especially since it will be very popular if on this moment On the market tourism services there is no such offer.
The main thing is to start if you are interested in the topic of promoting your native land, if you like to open unknown pages of history and you want to know about them as much as possible more people, you should organize excursion routes.
Instruction
Before taking a group or a single visitor, prepare for the tour. It is not enough just to walk through the floors of the building and see what is presented in the expositions. Read the sources, find out the history of each exhibit. This is necessary in order to identify what is most important to tell visitors about. Write a rough text of your story, write it down on sheets of paper or print it on a computer.
* Calculations use average data for Russia
1. PROJECT SUMMARY
The goal of the project is to organize a tour desk in Rostov-on-Don ( trademark"Don tourist"). Specialization - the provision of services for excursions, for adults and children, in Rostov-on-Don and the region. Customers can be both individuals and organizations, travel companies.
The basis for the implementation of the project is the growing popularity of domestic tourism in Russia against the backdrop of a decrease in the general well-being of citizens and the blocking of popular international tourist routes.
The project is unlimited in time, the investment period is calculated for five years. The decision to invest is made on the basis of the integral indicators of the project (Table 1).
Table 1. Integral project performance indicators
2. COMPANY AND INDUSTRY DESCRIPTION
Location and implementation of the project - Rostov-on-Don. The city is the capital of the Southern Federal District and the largest city in the South of Russia. The population of the city is 1.1 million people; the population of the Rostov agglomeration is 2.16 million people. Rostov-on-Don was founded in 1749 and has rich cultural traditions; Rostov region - the center of the Cossacks; Novocherkassk is the capital of the Don Cossacks. In addition, various cultural and historical sites are located in the region: Taganrog, Azov, Starocherkassk, Veshenskaya and others.
The principle of the company's activity is the provision of services for conducting excursions on the territory of Rostov-on-Don and Rostov region.
Figure 1. Dynamics of the main indicators of the industry in 2008-2014
As can be seen from Fig. 1, despite fluctuations in the number of travel companies showing a downward trend from the number since 2011, the industry's revenue is growing steadily. This is due to the development of domestic tourism in the country as a whole, and in the Rostov region in all honesty.
The state program of the Rostov region "Development of culture and tourism" provides for the following forms of direct financial support for the subjects of the tourism industry:
Subsidizing part of the costs (up to 80%) for the acquisition of fixed assets for the provision of services in the field of outbound and domestic tourism;
Subsidizing part of the costs (up to 80%) for the classification of hotels and other accommodation facilities in the Rostov region;
Subsidizing part of the costs (up to 70%) for advertising and information promotion of a regional tourism product.
Thus, all conditions for the development of the project are created by law in the region.
At the same time, no more than 15% of the total volume of travel companies specialize in domestic tourism. Given that the company provides services directly to the organization of excursions, and, in fact, is not a travel agency, these companies cannot be classified as direct competitors.
"Don Tourist" accepts orders from travel agencies to organize excursions, which are then carried out on your own. Agencies receive a commission of 10% of the cost of the tour. The company's fixed assets include a 50-seat sightseeing bus equipped with TVs, a refrigerator, etc. There are two guides on staff with experience and knowledge of the region. Tour guides work simultaneously with two small groups, which provides a higher level of comfort for tourists compared to the usual scheme, when one bus is served by one guide. Excursions are conducted to the cultural and historical sights of the city and the region.
3. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES
"Don Tourist" provides services for organizing and conducting excursions in Rostov-on-Don and the Rostov region using its own transport and attendants. There are three main types of excursions, different in time. Several excursion programs have been developed for each temporary type. The list of programs is given in Table. 2.
Table 2. List of excursion programs
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During each excursion program accompanied by a professional guide. Outside the bus, the tourist group is divided into two small groups, each of which receives its own guide.
During the 5-hour programs, there is a break for a light lunch - 20-25 minutes; during 10-hour programs - a full lunch in a booked restaurant of the middle price segment (the cost of lunch is not included in the price of the tour), as well as two short breaks of 20 minutes each.
Variable costs for services are formed from the wages of guides, the cost of fuel and bus operation, as well as commission agencies. Variable costs and the final cost of services are given in Table. 3.
Table 3. Cost of services and variable costs
4. SALES AND MARKETING
Sales of services are carried out by sales managers, they also accept applications from agencies. At the first stage, the most likely partners are determined according to a number of criteria:
Main focus on domestic tourism;
Good reputation in the market;
At least 1.5 years of experience with active development.
Then active work is carried out to develop partnerships. Proposals for cooperation are sent out, telephone conversations are held. If necessary, the project owner joins the negotiations, travels to meetings.
To accommodate complete information about programs, demonstration materials, terms of cooperation and other things, a website is being created high level. Through the site it is possible to book places for excursions. It is assumed that by the third year of operation, Donskoy Tourist's dependence on agency orders will be reduced by at least 30%.
The participation of the Donskoy Tourist Bureau in various image events of regional importance as a sponsor is expected, subject to the provision of an opportunity to promote regional tourist destinations. It is also expected to actively work with the schools of the city and the region with the aim of direct sales of excursion programs.
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The competitive environment is represented by five direct competitors - organizers of excursions on similar programs. Pricing policy - from budgetary to average. The quality of transport and services offered is below average to average. As a rule, companies use outdated vehicles in unsatisfactory condition, which not only reduces the comfort of the trip, but also makes the likelihood of breakdowns on the road high. In addition, only one guide per bus is used, which makes the tour not always comfortable due to the fact that not all tourists can get close enough to the excursion object or hear the guide. The pricing policy of competitors is mainly at the “standard” level with the above disadvantages.
Thus, competitive advantages Bureau "Don Tourist" are as follows:
Vehicle in good condition - despite the fact that the bus is purchased used, its residual value is significantly higher than that of competitors' vehicles; technical condition checked upon purchase in order to minimize the risk of breakdowns on the road;
High qualification of the driver - professionalism allows him to use the most convenient routes, navigate the movement of public transport, avoid emergencies and make the trip as comfortable as possible;
Two guides - allow you to split a large group into two small ones, which provides more comfortable conditions excursions, more attention to each sightseer and his questions, the availability of excursion objects, etc.;
High communication skills of the guides allow avoiding the dryness of the presentation of the material and make the tour more interesting and memorable.
5. PRODUCTION PLAN
The fixed assets of the enterprise include a tour bus of foreign production, used, in good condition. The capacity of the bus is 50 people. The estimated average occupancy is 45 people. The bus has everything necessary equipment for excursions lasting less than 12 hours.
The tour plan is compiled by the owner of the enterprise together with professional guides who are part of the staff of the enterprise.
The demand for excursion services is seasonal. The maximum level falls on the period from May to September; decline in winter. However, given that most programs are not seasonal, even in winter there is a certain level of demand. Seasonal fluctuations in demand and revenue figures are given in Appendix 1 of this business plan.
The maximum monthly sales volume is calculated based on a realistic scenario and is shown in Table. 4 of this business plan.
Table 4. Monthly Estimated Sales of Services
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Key assets in the plan labor resources- these are, of course, professional guides, which are presented high requirements which include not only extensive knowledge of the history and culture of the Don region, but also the ability to actively work with the audience, high communication skills, designed to ensure not only the information content of the trip, but also the interest of the tourists. The form of remuneration for guides is piecework, with a rate of 1000 rubles. per hour of work. The remuneration of guides is charged to variable costs and is not reflected in the staffing table.
The professionalism of the bus driver also has great importance for the comfort and safety of passengers. For this reason, high requirements are also placed on the driver's qualifications - accident-free experience in driving a sightseeing bus for at least 10 years, knowledge of the basics of car business, lack of bad habits. The driver has a combined salary - a fixed salary of 30,000 rubles per month and 300 rubles per hour of the tour.
Sales professionals must have at least 3 years of experience in the tourism industry.
The subordination of all employees occurs directly to the owner of the project. The owner has experience entrepreneurial activity, knowledge of labor legislation and industry standards of the tourism industry.
Table 5 staffing and payroll
6. FINANCIAL PLAN
The financial plan has been drawn up for a five-year perspective. At the same time, the project is unlimited in time. Fixed and variable costs are calculated, monthly revenue is determined taking into account seasonality, cash flow(cash-flow).
Investment costs for the project amount to 5.85 million rubles, of which 2.0 million are the project initiator's own funds. The remaining amount is raised with the help of a bank loan for a period of 48 months and at 20% per annum. Payment of obligations under the loan is carried out by annuity payments, credit holidays - three months. The bulk of the investment is used to purchase a bus. Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis over a five-year period.
The cash flow statement is given in Appendix 2 of this business plan.
Table 6. Investment costs
Table 7. Fixed costs
7. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
On the basis of the financial plan, the integral indicators of the project's effectiveness are calculated (Table 1). Because the financial plan is calculated for a relatively long period, a discount rate of 5% is introduced to account for the time value of money. The size of the rate is determined by the mastered technology of work, the offer is not innovative, the competition is relatively low, the market has been formed and researched.
The payback period of the project is 17 months, the discounted payback period is 18 months. With such fairly solid capital investments, this is a short time.
Net present value (NPV) - 16.93 million rubles, which is significantly higher than the initial investment. The internal rate of return (IRR) is 6.0%, which is higher than the discount rate, which indicates the investment attractiveness of the project. Profitability Index (PI) > 1, which also indicates that the project is largely profitable.
8. RISKS AND WARRANTY
The following risks associated with the implementation of the project can be identified:
Entering the market of a new competitor of a similar level - the market capacity today is large enough to accommodate several similar offers; at the same time, it is necessary to establish strong partnerships with key agencies;
Modernization of fixed assets by competitors - the probability is low, since according to known data, competitors are experiencing a shortage of free cash;
Deterioration of the general economic situation in the country - with the existing relatively low prices for domestic tourism, a decrease in the solvency of the population can potentially attract customers from more expensive market segments;
Failure to fulfill the sales plan is unlikely, since only experienced managers are accepted into the staff, and the pricing policy is formed in the most competitive form.
APPENDIX 1 and APPENDIX 2
Seasonality indicators and company revenue
Financial plan
Denis Miroshnichenko
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