Travel consultant business 2012

The nature of the travel consulting industry is ideally suited to the internet. In every country many people are interested in traveling to foreign destinations. With the internet's widespread reputation for information and international access, it is only natural that tourists will look first to the internet for information.

Many individuals enjoy working with a travel consultant to plan their vacation. Also, many travel agencies today are hiring consultants who work from home to complete research, planning, and reservation tasks via email. This business has low cost entry and high profit potential.

Online travel consultants provide a wide variety of services for their customers. Usually you will be providing clients with an organized travel plan including travel arrangements, car rental reservations at the destination, and accommodation reservations.

Occasionally, customers will also want a completely planned itinerary with a list of things to do, tour companies, and popular sites to see in the area. Your reports or itinerary should have competitive rates for all expenses involved due to the highly competitive environment of the online travel market.

The information should be comprehensive and full of choices so that your clients understand the value of your services as an online travel expert.

Revenue is usually generated from a commission that comes from the hotels and car rental agencies you work with, the travel agencies you are affiliated with, and the tour operators.

Familiarity with the travel industry is naturally required to start this business. You will also need clear communication skills, telephone skills, email skills, and basic web publishing skills to update your website.  This kind of business can be operated by one experienced person from home.

Since the internet is such a natural step for a travel consulting business, competition is fierce. It is very important to have a well executed set of services and robust website with plenty of resources, testimonials, and content.

Your service should be timely and reliable with competitive pricing. Claiming an expertise in particular type of travel experience or area is a good idea at this stage in the online travel business. For example, if you became an expert on planning outdoor adventures in the highlands of Mexico, you have targeted niche and you become more valuable to travel agencies who get this request and do not have the information or expertise to produce the itinerary that the client desires.

Should you wish to augment your income, a travel consulting business offers many opportunities. Most governments spend a great deal of money on tourism advertising. With a well executed banner ad campaign you could draw in government sponsors.If your services are targeted toward a type of tourism that requires special equipment (e.g, scuba diving or mountain climbing), then you could sell the equipment through your website.

Travel niche is the hottest market , both online or offline, if you could providing specific niche targeted market which hasn't been addressed by 'big travel agencies', then you could earn a lot of profits from this business.