Travel Consulting - viability

A major issue of concern for what you have in mind pertains to a variety of potential legal issues surrounding the running of a business . Even something as seemingly innocuous and innocent as you suggest , raises legal considerations if you are being paid . I would consult a qualified attorney before embarking on this path .

I have been told the same thing, when people find out they paid more for their 7 week Disney Orlando trip than I did for a 3 week family trip to Europe. I think the upside is probably pretty limited, since most people won't value what you are selling them. I guess I am saying to succeed you will need a lot more sales ability than competence, although that is something that is probably always true.

You can use existing services like Legal Zoom to get basic business documents and templates in order. It's really not rocket science to write contracts and file tax paperwork - the framework already exists out there for many independent contractors. But that's really putting the cart before the horse.

First, you have to think about who your core customer is going to be and how you're going to find them. It seems like there are roughly two groups of travelers - ones that use tours to cut all the risk and make best use of their limited resources, and wholly independent travelers who do all their own planning. The other (I think much smaller) group simply muddles through and figures it out by trial and error by using a variety of sources. This forum is basically a free travel consulting site, and that's what you'd be competing with - along with other sources freely available to anyone else (Trip Advisor, blogs, books etc.). Even devices as mundane as smartphones and voice activated services like Siri and Google Assist can help people plan their travel through voice commands and simple questions, and they'll only get more sophisticated in the future. So it's a difficult business proposition with a lot of competition.

In order for someone to pay for your services, you'll have to somehow signal your value. But how do you do that when you're not behind any existing brand/business that someone already trusts (as is the case with the "add-on" travel consulting services offered by the RS folks)? There is a lack of standards and definitions of what a "travel consultant" is and what they do. It could mean a variety of things and a range of skills. I think you'd have to offer some interesting concrete examples of how you can solve someone's problems, and to define the core competencies of the job....many people are already good at internet research, using spreadsheets, and filling the gaps using existing free services (like this travel forum).

I have to agree with Agnes. The competition now is a thousandfold what it was ten years ago. Your direct competition would be the online Travel Forums (RS, Tripadvisor, Thorn Tree), some of which have very specific niches carved out.

I ask myself, would I contact you (after finding your website) or would I post a (series of) question(s) here?

here's something you can do...offer your services to your community through an extension course, through your church, or at your library. have a 20 minute presentation, take some questions, boom..you can get started quickly!

Steven made several good points -- and I agree with him whole heartedly. In today's litigious world I wouldn't think of doing any type consulting work for compensation without having an attorney be sure things were set up properly. And be sure you have errors and omissions insurance as well as general liability insurance. It's not my intent to throw cold water on your plans and dreams, but it seems like the world now is full of folks who will sue you in a heartbeat for hardly any misstep at all.

IMHO, there is too much free "consulting" available on online for this to be a viable business.

The people on these boards are far from being your target market so you will get biased answers.

People on these boards love to think about travel, plan travel, research hotels, transportations, sites etc. The vast majority of the world is not like that.... if this were the case, travel agents would be out of business. I would venture that most of us on these boards never use travel agents( to me they are more of a nuisance than a help) but 95% of my family does unless they are travelling with me :)

There is definitely a market for it. My neighbour's sole job is planning Disney trips for people. She makes the hotel reservations, restaurant reservations, park planning, fast pass booking etc. She is super busy and most of her business is word of mouth. She does use social media as well to some extent.

I would go for it.. you have nothing to lose!

I like Shelley's idea as a way to get started.

Re Shelley and acravan: I think that's basically how Rick got started and it has certainly worked out well for him! Marcus, give it a shot or you'll always wonder "what if.......".

I have been considering something along these lines, but more specific - ancestor touring. My particular ethnic group (Donau-schwaben Germans who lives in Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and B-H before WWII) has many complex issues, including name changes of towns, changes of country of citizenship not once but in some cases 6 times, and so forth. I know guides in the relevant areas, and things like that. I wonder even about setting up tours.

I am in sales and have traveled quite a bit. I think this would be an extremely difficult thing to generate enough income to earn a living at in the way you have described so far.

It would likely take years to generate a customer base. Like many contractors, you must sell something to eat. That can be very difficult. The way to be successful, is to generate residual income. Repeat customers. (see Rick Steves as an example. I am sure Rick Steves is extremely wealthy. (and he seems pretty happy with what he does as well.)}

Maybe there are corporations that might entrust you to plan their incentive trips for their sales force? But, that would be a very risky proposition for the company to use an unknown entity for this service as there are large companies already doing this. But, those corporations are the ones with big pocket books. Maybe you knock on doors and make inquiries and see what they currently do. This would take LOTs of cold calls. Lots. All it takes is one person sometimes to fall in love with you.....

I suspect many people have tried similar things. The odds are not in your favor.

HOWEVER!!! In a capitalistic society, there are many, many ways to become successful. The key is to find a niche. That takes skill. A lot of skill. It takes luck. Maybe more luck than anything else to become uber successful. Being in the right place at the right time is maybe the single most important aspect of this entire thing. Maybe even more than hard work in many ways.....However...

Hard work.....very, very few people have been independently successful without this. People talk about success all the time. People say they want to be successful. People wonder "how did THAT guy do it"? Well, the age old formula of hardwork is something that very few really are willing to do. They think they are working hard. They tell people they worked hard....but the extremely successful people are the ones that outworked everyone they know and very few regular people truly understand the amount of time and energy it takes to succeed. IMO, less than one half of one percent of the population (less if you use global numbers) have any idea what that means to work that hard. 40 hours won't cut it NOT EVEN CLOSE. 70 hours a week won't cut it. It has to be a 24 hour a day 365 day per year obsessive mission. All or none.

People like to rip on CEO's, the rich and the successful people and say they were lucky....Well, maybe an extremely small # of people were simply lucky. Some were trust fund babies. These don't count. But I can promise you, every single CEO you have ever heard of, likely worked harder than anyone you have ever known to get where they are.

There is no magic bullet. If there were....everyone would be doing it!

My neighbour's sole job is planning Disney trips for people.

So how does she make money? Mark everything up 15%?

As to insurance, I would think that self-insuring is a safe bet, there's not much liability. How much can a person sue for the Dumbo ride being down for the afternoon?

People like to rip on CEO's, the rich and the successful people and say they were lucky

Yes and no. A lot of really hard working people end up bankrupt when one customer at the right time would have made all the difference.

I explain that in my post

@Tom_MN.. she charges a flat fee based on how much planning she does.. In some cases, she has everyday planned out for people, how to you the park, what rides to do in what order etc.

She is not getting rich but she loves it and is a nice supplemental income. I am assuming that Marcus is also looking at it as more of a side gig as opposed to this full time job/career

That part of Hungary where the Donauschwaben Germans were until 1945/46 is in Romania ever since 1920 when it was called "Siebenbürgen" which is known in English as "Transylvania." .

To get the name changes from the present Romanian or Hungarian to the historical German names, such as Pecs was Fünfkirchen oder Sibiu was Hermannstadt, you need a bi-lingual map.

Check out Höfer Verlag...their website. Their excellent folded maps include a bi-lingual index of a ton of places.

The legal aspect doesnt worry me at all. Trying to market and actually make money at it is the real rub.

Start small and tight. Pick a region or city you know well and begin there. Put together a Kindle book and a website on that location, then tag your consulting services onto those. Relationships with vendors in the target location can also increase the viability.

I am actually playing around with starting a travel business when I retire. Mine would focus on Girl Scout groups who want to go to Europe. Right now they are paying a tour company and inordinate amount of money but what I consider a subpar tour

For example in London they stop at the Tower of London, get off the bus, take a photo, get on the bus and go to a shop!!!!!! They also don't get to experience the girl guide centers fully because they are on a tour. I figure I can deliver them to the locations let them do the program and pick them up a few days later.

The leaders use the current companies because rhey are afraid to go on their own.

I don't think it will be incredibly profitable! :) But it would be challenging

Right now they are paying a tour company an inordinate amount of money

Ditto band and orchestra tours. I am taking my family (4) to California for about the same price that one student would be charged for the same trip. Well, less than the same trip. Better to be a family of 4 in a 2-queen room than 4 teenagers sharing 2 double beds.

I think there is a lot of value in the services you offer, at least for those who do not wish to do it themselves. A lot of people do not wish to do the planning and we see that here all the time. And they spend more than they need to.

But can you A) find your market niche and B) get people to pay what it is worth? I can not imagine someone paying me for the number of hours I put in on our trips. For each week we travel I would guess I spend 10-12 hours, and that does not count the books I read! What do you suppose the time commitment would be for you to plan a 10 or 14 day trip say to Italy?

What would you do about planning for places you have never been? One of my beefs with travel agents is when they try to help people go places they have never been. I had one that booked us in Hawaii 30+ years ago and found out (too late) she'd never gone there. Yikes!

You might look at what others are doing. Italy Beyond the Obvious comes to mind, as well as Revealed Rome.

It seems like there are roughly two groups of travelers - ones that use tours to cut all the risk and make best use of their limited
resources, and wholly independent travelers who do all their own planning. The other (I think much smaller) group simply muddles
through and figures it out by trial and error by using a variety of sources.

I think the two larger groups are the tour-group-people and the muddle-through-people. It's a much smaller group who actually plans enough in advance to optimize their time on vacation the way most of us who post here do.

There is probably a market for what the OP is planning, but I think you do something like this because you love it and not because you want to make money at it. That's what drives the frequent-flyers on boards like this one who spend a lot of their time giving away advice for free.

" the frequent-flyers on boards like this one who spend a lot of their time giving away advice for free." Yeah, the biggest threat to a business like the proposed one is the RS Travel Forum.

I do remember the confusion that my wife and I had when planning a trip for our family. We had no problem with just us 2. But 5? Things were more complicated. We paid the $75 for the 1/2 hour with the RS consultants.

There are times that a consultant would be helpful. It's finding the niche that counts.

"people find out they paid more for their 7 week Disney Orlando trip than I did for a 3 week family trip to Europe"
Tom_MN, I doubt that would surprise anybody. Disney is expensive and they stayed there more than twice longer than you in Europe.

Marcus, once I thought about it too. I had a website, advertised my services, first 15 customers for free then 30 US$ - the same what most travel agents ask. I was offering advice and (or) itinerary to independent travelers to Czech Republic and (or) Slovakia.
I lived in former Czechoslovakia first half of my life and since communism collapsed I go there once or twice a year. I speak (obviously) their languages and very likely know more about those destinations than Rick Steves consultants. Nevertheless people don't want to take risk with somebody they don't know and if they don't do the research themselves as most people in the era of internet do, they go to well known Rick Steves consultants. To make long story short in one year I did not have one customer - despite first 15 would have been for free. I traveled to most of European countries (plus to many outside Europe) but I suspected that R.S. consultants could be better there so I sticked with Czechia and Slovakia. I cross fingers for you but like others already said: it won't be easy.

You may run up against people's willingness to pay for this type of service. The concerns about insurance are valid, but many people who are in business for themselves take the risk to do without. One of the challenges would be, would anyone be willing to sign a contract with terms that you would be needed to protect you, if you were prudent. People who ask question like that, like me, are not big enough risk takers to be in business for themselves.

Making a living from this would be really hard. The people that I know who do this successfully are either on the delivery end (cooking-focused instruction in Provence) and/or cater to very high end travelers. Very high end travelers are few and a lot of other people want their money, too.

And you don't want to be under capitalized and end up treating your clients like these people got treated.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tourist-scams/scammed

I did help someone out once for a $50 charge.

What I did was research for them - mostly accommodations - giving them - say - a half dozen to chose from in each place after getting their budget (hostels, airbnb's, hotels), reading reviews, scouting locations for public transport availability (and all the stuff I do when I plan my own holidays). Then they had that and could choose from that list, or try to find one on their own. I also gave them public transportation advice and advice on how to get around - either bus or train between towns, etc.

And I toyed with doing it as a side thing, just posting an ad on kijiji (Canada's version of Craigslist), but then realized I'm a huge procrastinator at times, and if I had a month to give someone suggestions, I'd probably leave it until the last 5 days, then spend hours trying to do it all at once...lol.

I thought it would be a good idea for people who don't want to pay big bucks to a travel agent (or take a tour) but who didn't have the time or inclination to hunt for hours for places to stay or figure out how to get around.

I think the only way to do this is to go into the travel agent business. Find a niche, do some research. You probably have to work for another travel agent first, to understand it.

I think the only way to do this is to go into the travel agent business. Find a niche, do some research. You probably have to work for another travel agent first, to understand it.

A traditional travel agent is not a viable business model either. That's why they've largely disappeared or migrated online into online packaged deals by the likes of Expedia, Trip Advisor, Travelocity, etc. No one pays them commissions anymore except cruise lines (and maybe some others I'm not aware of).

Nicole P. It would be interesting to know how many hours you spent on that job, to see whether it was worth it for $50.

Stan...I’m sure I put in way more hours than it was worth monetarily, depending on what we think our time is worth. It was something I was toying with and figured if I did decide to pursue it as a infrequent side gig, then I would charge depending on how much info needed research. If someone was just going to a few cities vs multiple stops, obviously one requires a lot more work...I just decided I procrastinated too much to make it enjoyable for me, since I’d always be doing it last minute.