Classification of the main types of tourism. Theoretical foundations of the organization of marketing in the service sector The main features of the tourism business

The tourism business is of interest to many investors and entrepreneurs. Demand for the services of travel agencies is growing year by year. In 2013, 728 travel companies were registered in St. Petersburg, 540 in Samara, and more than 2,000 in Moscow.

To create your business, you will need:

• register a legal entity;
• obtain the relevant documents from the Department of Tourism;
• rent your office
• hire managers;
• place an advertisment.

However, everything is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. In order to survive, your travel company will have to compete with a huge number of similar companies.

You need to know what the tourism market is like and what type of business you would like to be involved in.

Tourism business classification

The tourism business has its own classification. The areas of activity include:

• tour operators;
• travel agencies.

The tour operator organizes tours independently: concludes contracts with air carriers, hotels, tour companies or acts by agreement with other service providers, local tour operators. The activities of tour operators bring more profit, but the risks of losses and material losses are much higher.

You can act as an intermediary and. That is, the agency sells a ready-made tourist product, and the limit of its responsibility is limited only to the reliable provision of information about the services. These directions are considered simpler and more reliable for the entrepreneur, but less profitable. On average, for the sale of a tour package, the agency receives a reward of 8-10% of the transaction.

In addition, tourism can differ in the type of services provided. There is outbound tourism, when citizens of the Russian Federation go on vacation abroad; entry - the provision of tourist services to those entering the territory of the Russian Federation who are not its permanent residents; and domestic tourism - the provision of tours in Russia. Of course, taking into account the level of income and the quality of the services provided, the buyer most often prefers to go abroad to popular beach resorts in Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Spain. At the same time, do not forget an important formula: what sells best is what you (your team) sell.

Back to index

Legal registration of the company

Next, the entrepreneur will have to go through a series of legal procedures:

• company registration;
• obtaining a license from the Department of Tourism;
• obtaining a certificate of quality standards (confirms that the services you provide to the population meet the established quality standards);
• obtaining a hygiene certificate (for this you need to attend a course of lectures on tropical diseases and other dangers that await tourists on vacation).

In order to enter the list of firms with a high customer confidence rating and without a high risk of losses due to downtime, seasonality must be taken into account in order to enter the list of firms with a high rating of buyer confidence in time.

The highest sales are observed during the May holidays, from June to September, and New Year's tours in December and January are also popular. When planning to start work at the height of the season, you should expect that it will take you at least 2-2.5 months to prepare.

Inevitable and material costs. In the tourism business, they can be called quite moderate. To enter the business, you will need at least $ 10,000, office rent, hiring managers and an advertising campaign.

The latter is an integral part, as it allows you to create 50% of the company's image and is one of the main tools for attracting customers. Loyal customers are good, but you always need an influx of new people to stay afloat.

Use print ads, newspaper ads, online ads, create a social media group. Social media is a great way to attract new customers and keep old ones. you can publish various special offers for group members: coupons, discounts, information about various promotions. Work on your reputation.

The second important tool is trust. Create a good impression, offer high service, individual approach to everyone - this is another 50% of your success in the travel services market. To maintain this tool, you will need a team of professional service sales managers. At the same time, it is worth selecting personnel who will also be interested in the development of your company and motivated by a decent reward.

The third tool is word of mouth. Do more for your customers than they expect. Reward your customers for choosing your company. If customers are satisfied with the services provided, the attitude of the staff, they will begin to advertise you to their friends and acquaintances even without your request.

One American consumer satisfaction agency published the results of a study of the reasons why customers do not return to the travel agency where they were provided with services:

• 1% - due to death;
• 3% - due to moving to another city;
• 5% began to purchase services from friends;
• 9% of respondents went to another seller because they were attracted by a better price;
• 14% were not satisfied with the quality of services provided;
• 68% of respondents will not return to the agency due to poor service and rude attitude from the staff. There is something to think about.

In addition to human factors related to the interpersonal attitude of your customers and representatives of your company, image, pay special attention to the location and design of the office.

The office should be within walking distance from the main transport hubs, interchanges, metro stations, in large shopping malls - in those places where there is the greatest traffic. In the design of the office, it is desirable to adhere to the corporate style. If your company has a corporate logo, use its colors when painting office walls, when choosing furniture, accessories.

Tourism is developing in Russia at a fantastic rate. People began to live better, incomes increased, which means that the field of activity for firms working in this area has also expanded.

How to start a tourism business? Like any other, with cost and income planning. In the article we will talk about what the business plan of a travel agency should contain, how to competently organize a business, form an assortment of tours, and choose partners.

Choice of direction of work

This is the first thing you will have to deal with. All currently operating companies can be divided into two groups: those that organize and implement their own tours, in a word - tour operators, and those that specialize exclusively in selling offers from domestic and foreign companies, that is, travel agents.

Of course, it is more profitable to work according to the first option, but the risks are higher. In addition, the initial capital required is very large. Therefore, it is safer and easier to start activities with the implementation of ready-made tours of reputable tour operators. The organization of a tourism business in this case will require much smaller investments from you, you can start with a capital of 200 thousand rubles (of course, this is the minimum figure).

A travel agent is a kind of intermediary between a large company and a buyer. But this does not mean that you should sell tours strictly at the price determined by the tour operator. For example, the organizer of a tour to America offered you a route worth 80,000 rubles for implementation on the condition that you take 10 percent of the tour price for yourself. You are selling a ticket in your city, where there are no similar offers, more expensive, say, for 100 thousand rubles. The benefit is obvious - your income increases.

Travel business. Where to begin?

After you have decided on the direction of work, you should register your company. You can create a legal entity, or you can function as an individual entrepreneur. As practice shows, for work in the field of tourism, it is still better to give preference to LLC. The key point in such activities is the trust of customers in the company they choose, and people trust legal entities more than individual entrepreneurs.

A fee of 4,000 rubles is charged for registering an LLC, and you will also have to make a seal (another 400-600 rubles) and certify the constituent documents with a notary (about 1,000 rubles). The authorized capital must be at least 10,000 rubles, at least half of it you must transfer to an account opened with a bank (you will also have to pay about 500 rubles to open an account). Upon registration, the company will be assigned OKVED 53.30 “Activities of travel agencies”. Thus, the minimum amount that you will spend on the registration procedure is 6,000 rubles.

License and taxes

What else do you need to open a travel agency? Previously, a license was required, but since 2007, compulsory licensing has been abolished. Therefore, it remains only to choose the object of taxation. The work of travel agencies falls under the simplified tax system. Two objects are offered at your discretion: income (6 percent rate) or income minus expenses (15 percent rate). The second option should be chosen only if a large share of the costs is expected.

Room selection

This step should be done before the registration process. Yes, you will not be registered if the company does not have a legal address. Of course, it is best to locate the agency's office in the city center, but focus primarily on financial opportunities. Pay special attention to the design and furnishings of the room. Essentially, a travel company sells promises, “air”, a person gives money now and receives a service later, so you should create an atmosphere of confidence that the savings go into safe hands.

Office equipment

Do not forget about office equipment: the office must be equipped with a computer with Internet access (one is enough for a start), a telephone, a printer, a fax - without all this, work cannot be organized. The cost of furniture will also be rather big. A computer desk costs at least 6,000 rubles, a swivel chair costs about 3,000 thousand, you will also need to purchase chairs for clients, a sofa to wait in case there is a queue, a coffee table where booklets, leaflets, etc. will lie.

On average, the cost of buying furniture will be 30-60 thousand rubles. You will need to spend about 50 thousand rubles on office equipment (with conservative estimates). Yes, your own travel company is expensive! The business plan should also contain a calculation of the monthly costs of maintaining the office, which will include the cost of stationery, utility bills, Internet payments, telephone bills, and more.

Choice of partners

Finding the tour operators you want to work with is what you need to open a travel agency, among other things. Today, there are many operators on the market that organize tours to various destinations. An important point: you need to work only with trusted companies.

Many entrepreneurs who are just starting the development of the tourism business make a serious mistake. They strive to cooperate with tour operators offering tours at the lowest prices. As a rule, such firms are unreliable. To avoid unpleasant moments, choose companies that have already established themselves in the market.

Be sure to find out which tour operators have offices in your city. Working with them, you will get rid of many troubles. All documentation turnover is carried out at the main office, if you have a representative office, you can directly give documents, which is very convenient.

Recruitment

The business plan of the travel agency must include information about the staff and payroll. A small company may consist of only four people: a director, a manager, an accountant and a janitor. When combining functions, the staff can be even smaller.

The tourism business is one of the fastest growing sectors of the world economy.

International tourism is one of the top three export industries, behind the oil industry and the automotive industry. The importance of tourism in the world is constantly increasing, which is associated with the increased influence of tourism on the economy of a particular country.

The tourism business is attractive to entrepreneurs for the following reasons:

Small initial investment;
- growing demand for tourism services;
- high level of profitability;
- Minimum payback period.

The effectiveness of tourism consists of the following functions:
1) Tourism is a source of foreign exchange earnings and a means of providing employment for the population;
2) Tourism develops industries that serve the tourism sector: construction, trade, production of consumer goods, communications.
3) Tourism expands contributions to the country's balance of payments.

It is expedient to classify tourism by geography, the purpose of the trip, the mode of transportation, the means of accommodation for tourists, etc. The main types of tourism are as follows:

1) Tourism domestic
Domestic tourism is not associated with crossing the state border. It accounts for 80-90% of trips in the world.

2) International tourism
On average, about 65% of all international tourist trips are to Europe, about 20% to America and about 15% to other regions. The development of international tourism in countries predominantly hosting tourists is due to the desire to increase the inflow of foreign currency and create new jobs. Many countries through international tourism are trying to solve the problems of the balance of payments. Incoming foreign tourists, paying for goods and services, ensure the flow of currency into the budget of the host country and thereby activate its balance of payments. The entry of tourists is accompanied by an outflow of the national currency. International payments for tourism operations of this kind are recorded in the liabilities side of the country's balance of payments.

3) Recreational tourism
Tourism for the purpose of recreation for a number of states is the most massive form. Trips of foreign tourists to Spain, Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland pursue, first of all, precisely this goal. Recreational tourism is characterized by the duration of travel, a small number of cities included in the route, and the widespread use of air transport.

Leisure trips are very diverse and may include entertainment programs (theater, cinema, festivals, etc.), hobby activities (hunting, fishing, music, art, ethnic trips related to the study of the national culture of the country stay, etc.)

4) Health tourism
This type of tourism is purely personal, individual. The usual duration of a tour for treatment is 24-28 days, which is much longer than for other types of tourism. Health-improving rest, depending on the means of influencing the human body, is divided into climate-, balneo-, sea-, mud therapy, etc.

5) Educational tourism
This type of tourism includes travel and trips for educational purposes. Excursion as a form of knowledge and a type of leisure performs the functions of broadening one's horizons. One of the varieties of educational trips is car tourism. Compared to traveling by other types of vehicles, traveling by car and bus provides tourists with a much greater educational opportunity.

6) Professional and business tourism
This type of tourism includes trips for business purposes. Life in a modern civilized society necessitates international contacts. Business trips have recently become widespread.

7) Shopping tours
This type of tourism is typical for Russia. The purpose of trips abroad is to purchase consumer goods for their subsequent sale.

In Russia, tourism is a growing industry, and the impact of the tourism industry on the country's economy is still insignificant. The underdevelopment of tourism infrastructure, the low quality of service, and the persistent myth about Russia as a high-risk country have led to the fact that our country currently accounts for less than 1% of the world's tourist flow.

The indicator of tourist mobility of the Russian population is one of the lowest in the world. The vast majority of travel agencies prefer to send their compatriots abroad, and only a few firms work to attract tourists to Russia.

Turning to a travel company, the client first of all wants to know what services he acquires and how to use them, as well as the guarantees and obligations of the company and his rights.

In the structure of tourism services, there are basic and additional:

1) Transportation services
2) Accommodation
3) Catering for tourists
Additional services include:

Services for organizing excursions, tourist insurance services, services of guides, guide-interpreters, tourist transportation services, etc.

The tourism business consists of two areas:
organization-tour operator and organization-travel agent.

A tour operator is an organization that creates a tourist product, i.e. - this is a set of tourism services provided: accommodation, transport, food, etc., such organizations are larger in the tourism business industry and are the most costly in terms of financial resources.

Travel agencies, on the other hand, are exclusively engaged in the provision of services. The travel agency selects a tour operator suitable for its requirements, concludes an agreement and works as an intermediary organization.

Moreover, the travel agency is fully responsible for the quality of the services provided. In addition, the tour operator can independently provide its services in the complex, as well as provide any specific services.

The tourism business today is one of the most profitable types of business, and therefore the competition in this type of business is quite high.

If you have seriously decided to go into the tourism business, but are not sure of your competence, try to get a job in a travel agency as a dealer selling individual travel services.

The tourism business in different areas differs in the form and, especially, the content of operations and the methods of their implementation. The nature of the tourism business determines the type of products or services that the tourism organization provides. It can independently produce these products (services) or resell products (services) of other organizations to consumers, and can only connect producers and consumers of tourism products and services.

There are the following main areas of tourism business:

production;

Commerce;

financial entrepreneurship;

Consulting.

Such a division is conditional, since it is often very difficult to distinguish between production and non-production business. If we briefly define the importance of each area in tourism and the national economy, we can say the following: at different times, each of these areas can provide different income, but production remains the main one among them. It is in the sphere of production that material goods (tourist products and services) are created that are necessary for human life. Yes, there is commerce in the travel business only because the tour operator has created a product that the travel agent resells. The state of tourism as a special inter-industry complex of the economy is determined by the number of high-quality tourism products and services that fall on one person. The same products and services as part of the country's GDP affect the level of development of the national economy. Significant in terms of the number of registered tourist organizations, now there is a share of commerce. This is primarily due to the relatively low start-up capital and competitive profitability of the business, however, production dominates in terms of income.

Sphere of production: types, features of functioning, development problems

Industrial tourism business is the process of creating products and services that can be sold to consumers. As already noted, the industrial tourism business includes tour operating, hotel services, the provision of catering services, transport services, leisure activities, education, business services, health and sports services, excursion services for tourists, etc.

The industrial tourism business can be carried out by organizations of various industries (hospitality, catering, etc.). This area of ​​tourism business can be classified into sectors and sub-sectors. Consider the concept of industrial tourism business. The tourism business is associated with the need for the entrepreneur to acquire fixed and working capital. To produce products and provide services, tourism organizations working capital needed - tangible and intangible values ​​(communication services, power supply, etc.).

The production of tourism services also requires fixed assets - premises, machines, equipment. If they are not in the tourist organization, then they must be purchased or rented. For the fixed assets necessary for the production of tourism services, their owners have to pay a sum of money, depending on the type and quantity of fixed assets necessary for the production and prices for them. When renting fixed assets, payment will also depend on the period of their use. Of course, the fixed assets acquired by the tourist organization serve it for a long time, therefore it is wrong to consider their cost as the expenses of the tourist organization for the production of one batch of services. At the same time, the fact that the tourism organization has its own fixed assets should not be taken as the absence of costs associated with the use of fixed assets. The costs of the tourist organization, due to the use of fixed assets, are taken equal to the amount of money necessary to compensate for the depreciation of these funds during the production of a specific batch of services or the implementation of a specific business operation. This value is called depreciation of fixed assets.

The production of tourism products (services) requires the involvement of work force - employees, whose work is subject to payment depending on the number of employees, wages and working hours during which tourism products and services are produced. In the process of production of tourist products (services), other expenses arise, in particular, for the acquisition of information, for the repair of equipment, etc. Production in the tourism business ends with the release of products (services) that the tourist organization sells either directly to the consumer or to trade organizations (most often - travel agencies). As a consequence, the tourism organization receives revenue from the sale of products (services), which depends on the volume of production, sales and the price of the product (or service) at which it is sold.

The task of the tourism organization is to ensure that production pays off, that is, that income exceeded basic and additional expenses, including taxes. The industrial tourism business is usually associated with the need to create a legally registered enterprise, since it requires land, production areas, premises, etc. The role of the industrial tourism business in tourism and the national economy can be assessed as follows:

From a national economic point of view, the industrial tourism business is decisive, since it is in this area that the production of products and services necessary for tourists in particular and the state as a whole is carried out;

The subjects of industrial tourism business produce all types of tourism products and services for consumers;

The level of development of the industrial tourism business determines the economic growth of tourism and the national economy, as well as the level of social development of society.

the main problems of the development of the national production sector of the tourism industry can be identified as international competition in the field of tourism, high risks and technological features of the production sector. Problem international competition associated with the international specialization of industrial tourism organizations in the production of the most important types of tourism products (services) and their export (import) to other countries on the basis of the international division of labor. It is known that the specialization of production on a specific tourist product (or service) using the latest technologies helps to increase production volumes, reduce production costs, improve quality and reduce prices.

However, it is quite difficult for domestic tourism manufacturing organizations to compete with foreign manufacturers of tourism products and services. World leaders in the tourism industry work with "VIP", "all inclusive" systems, while the possibilities of the Ukrainian service are, as a rule, very limited. Therefore, domestic tourism organizations that are engaged in trade (most often travel agencies) prefer imported services. Thus, 60% of tourist products offered on the Ukrainian market are of foreign origin. A similar picture is observed with many tourism services.

The second problem in the manufacturing sector of the tourist business is high risk. The production of tourism products and services is the most dynamic area of ​​the tourism business, characterized by continuous change and improvement, and therefore the risk is very high. The development of production in the tourism business is based on the latest technical developments that require investment, and the actual effect of the introduction of these developments may differ significantly from the expected. In addition, the modern economic policy of Ukraine does not provide the necessary conditions for the development of industrial tourism business: the risk of lack of demand for tourism products and services of national production, chronic non-payments, numerous taxes and fees, the availability of affordable sources of income slow down the development of industrial tourism business. The development of industrial tourism business in Ukraine is hampered technological features of the production sector - this is the third problem of the national industrial tourism business. These features include high capital intensity, energy intensity and labor intensity of production processes, as well as a low level of qualification of novice businessmen and staff. Meanwhile, the industrial tourism business can ensure stable success for a novice businessman who gravitates towards a promising and sustainable business.

Thus, the manufacturing tourism business has significant growth prospects in Ukraine and can play the role of a catalyst for the stabilization and subsequent development of the national economy and the tourism economy.

The manufacturing tourism business is closely related to commerce, since the products and services created by it must be sold. From economic theory it is known that the business in the field of crafts inevitably gives rise to merchant business. This connection has been traced for many centuries. At the same time, production is not always the active party. essence commercial tourism industry consists in the operations of purchase, sale and resale of tourism products and services.

The general scheme of commercial tourism business is to a certain extent similar to the scheme of industrial tourism activities. However, unlike it, here, instead of material and intangible resources, a finished product or service is purchased, which are then sold to the consumer. A feature of the commercial tourism business is direct economic ties with wholesale and retail consumers of products and services. A tourist organization-merchant buys a product (service) from a manufacturer and pays him a certain amount of money, which depends on the volume and price of the product (service). It should be borne in mind that a tourist organization-merchant buys products (services) at wholesale prices, which are often lower than retail prices, at which the purchased products and services are then sold. The basic formula of a commercial transaction in the tourism business is "product (service) - money" when selling and "money - product (service)" when purchasing. Although the basis of the commercial tourism business is purchase and sale operations, it involves almost the same factors and resources as in the industrial tourism business, but on a smaller scale.

In such a business, profit is generated by selling a product (service) at a price higher than the purchase price. In general, the program of a commercial tourist operation includes:

o hiring employees to perform trade and intermediary operations (purchase and sale of products (services), advertising work, execution of necessary documents);

o acquisition or rental of premises (offices) necessary for the sale of products and services;

o attracting a loan of funds to finance the transaction with the subsequent repayment of the loan and interest for using it;

o purchasing products and services for resale;

o obtaining or acquiring information necessary for planning, execution and regulation of the transaction;

o selling products and services to the customer and receiving revenue;

o registration of the transaction, payment of taxes and payments to the budget.

The commercial tourism business is associated with a relatively high level of risk, especially when organizing trade in products and services of a seasonal nature (for example, New Year's tours). Therefore, the main activities of a commercial tourist operation must be coordinated with each other in time, setting them taking into account the logic and technology of the operation and transferring the possibility of a serial-parallel operation. The legal basis for commercial transactions is usually agency contract, concluded between the operator and the agent. In accordance with this agreement, the agent undertakes, on behalf of the operator, to sell the product (service) on the conditions specified in the agreement. The basis of such an agreement, among others, are two key conditions: the price of the product (service) and the amount of the agency fee, which is set as a percentage of the selling price. Both parties (operator and agent) are interested in increasing sales volumes, which will increase their income. Therefore, their economic interests coincide. Special attention should be paid to the coincidence of economic interests of partners. A tourism organization in its activities should rely on this principle if it really seeks effective partnership.

The search for one-sided profit in the tourism business cannot promise prosperity in the future. The production of the tourist business alone, and not as a team, in modern conditions is not a highly effective form of activity. The team in this case means the union of interconnected partners within the framework of a single production cycle. In order for commerce in the tourism industry to be successful, it is necessary to thoroughly know the unsatisfied demand of consumers, quickly respond to it, offering the necessary products and services. Commerce in the tourism sector of the economy is very mobile and changeable, as it is associated with specific consumers and often depends on the season.

For the development of a commercial tourism business, at least two conditions must be met:

1) the selling price of the product (service) must be significantly higher than the consumer purchase price;

2) there must be sufficient demand for this type of product (service), which allows them to be sold on a certain scale of operation in order to recover trading costs and make a profit. Tourism commerce is attracted by the apparent opportunity to sell a product (service) at a higher price than it was bought, and thereby make a significant profit. Such an opportunity does exist, but behind the apparent ease of commercial operations lie the considerable efforts of tourism organizations expended on achieving success.