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I have started online travel agency

by Jsngangom
14 replies
Hi everyone I have started online travel agency. Website and api etc etc.everything is good go. I've booked couple of tickets for domestic flight for friends and family. My plan is to expand the online business. I have set up FB and twitter but not that effective. Is there anyway how do drive target audience and how I start receiving an inbound calls for enquiry of tickets. Please guide. I badly need help.
#agency #online #started #travel
  • Profile picture of the author DavidKellog
    I was thinking about starting a similar project a while ago. I think that you need to study your competitors and see how they get traffic and customers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jsngangom
      David, I have been working on this project for last 2 months with setting up sites and all. Any suggestion what need to be done apart from checking out competitor.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gambino
    I wish you would have posted here before you set this thing up. I really don't know how someone can compete with the travel agencies and sites that dominate the market unless they are very, very niche or are somehow able to offer discounted prices or something unique like "last minute deals" or "all-inclusive trips".
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    • Profile picture of the author Jsngangom
      Bambino, i understand there are lots of established online agencies. I would have visited before I started up but I was stuck with other stuff aswell. Now everything is good to go now. I am now ready to received calls and email.

      I have created FB page as well but not that effective. Suggest needed. How do I drive target audience.
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      • Profile picture of the author Gambino
        Originally Posted by Jsngangom View Post

        Bambino, i understand there are lots of established online agencies. I would have visited before I started up but I was stuck with other stuff aswell. Now everything is good to go now. I am now ready to received calls and email.

        I have created FB page as well but not that effective. Suggest needed. How do I drive target audience.
        What is your site?

        Why should people use your site instead of Priceline.com or Kayak.com or Delta.com?
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  • Profile picture of the author Junaid khawaja
    You should start with facebook ads first.

    Target the audience of your competitors fb pages, create 5-10 ads at first - each with a $2 budget. See which one is performing well, and then scale it.

    Make sure your offer is good enough. Maybe a christmas discount or something..

    Thanks
    P.S have you defined your USP? If not, really that's the first thing you should be doing. Study your competitors all day and you will surely come up with a unique selling point.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jsngangom
      Thank you junaid, I will look into the creating of FB page. I will update you soon.
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  • Profile picture of the author colinpg
    Hi i think the best way to build and grow your business in the travel market, check alexa .com gives great insight ti background of your competition. And traffic sources but also try and pick up new software out called Adsvisor 2.0 this will let you spy on your competition. And you can then make similar all ads that work with facebook and exactly what traffic they use and what is working to grow your business fast.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    You need to start spending some money.

    AdWords, radio ads, TV spots, ads in newspapers and other print media, and maybe a little bit in Facebook ads, but I doubt they will be all that effective.

    That's where I would start.
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  • Profile picture of the author shaqsquash
    Being as most people book flights online now through discount sites I imagine this would be a tough business to do now. If you did this 10-15 years ago it could have been decently lucrative and fun.

    I have a little experience in this area. My advice is to see if you can buy or build website with a good domain catering to local travelers and try to negotiate special rates with hotels. I started a site on Tahoe Hotels a while back and it did decent. SEO is key for this.
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    Originally Posted by Jsngangom View Post

    Is there anyway how do drive target audience and how I start receiving an inbound calls for enquiry of tickets. Please guide. I badly need help.
    This should have been planned and setup before you made your site live. first I would look into getting an 800 number, just google it and find the service that fits your needs.

    As far as traffic goes, get your infrastructure before you start this

    al
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    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

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    • Profile picture of the author Jsngangom
      Originally Posted by agmccall View Post

      This should have been planned and setup before you made your site live. first I would look into getting an 800 number, just google it and find the service that fits your needs.

      As far as traffic goes, get your infrastructure before you start this

      al
      Hi everything is ready now..I've got 800 no. Infrastructure is ready. Website is ready aand I have booked couple of domestic tickets as well. Now y concern is how to drive organic audience.

      Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author mightyone
    I've wanted to do the same in terms of setting up an online travel agency, even set up the company but failed at the programming/site development stage as I couldn't find anyone reliable enough. My background is marketing.

    Drop me a line if you want some pointers (free, of course).
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