The travel business is a fast growing business (CAGR ~ 6%), making it a compelling option for entrepreneurs. The travel industry has consistently demonstrated resilience and growth, driven by factors such as increasing disposable incomes, globalization, and a growing desire for experiential travel. Travel businesses can generate revenue from various sources, including booking commissions, tour packages, accommodation reservations, transportation services, travel insurance, and ancillary products like excursions or event tickets.

With the rise of digital technology, travel businesses can reach a global audience and operate remotely, providing opportunities for scalability and expansion beyond local markets. But what’s the starting point? Most of the new entrants start with a question – how to start a travel agency? They want to know about the travel agency registration process, legalities, IATA or similar accreditation, host agency options, top travel aggregators and best technology platform for startup travel agencies.  

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Due to increased disposable money, political assistance, the development of infrastructure, and technological integration to ease commutes, the tourist industry is experiencing tremendous growth potential all around the world. Travel and tourism market size was valued at USD 612.5 Billion in 2022. The travel and tourism market industry is projected to grow from USD 648.03 Billion in 2023 to USD 1017.37 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.80% during the forecast period (2023 – 2032).

How to Start A Travel Agency : A Complete Guide in 8 Steps

Starting a travel agency requires careful planning, research, and adherence to legal and regulatory requirements. Here are eight steps to guide you through the process:

Step 1 : Research and Planning

Conduct thorough research on the travel industry, including market trends, competition, and potential target demographics. Define your niche, such as corporate travel, luxury vacations, or adventure tourism, to differentiate your agency in the market.

Step 2 : Business Plan

Develop a comprehensive business plan outlining your agency’s objectives, target market, marketing strategies, financial projections, and operational plan. A well-crafted business plan will get the best answer for original question – how to start travel agency business?

Step 3 : Registration Process

Register your travel agency as a legal entity and obtain any necessary licenses or permits required by your local or state government. Research regulatory requirements specific to the travel industry, such as seller of travel licenses or accreditation from industry associations like IATA (International Air Transport Association) or ASTA in USA (American Society of Travel Advisors).

Step 4 : Funding

Determine the initial capital required to start your own travel agency, including expenses such as office space, equipment, marketing, and licensing fees. Explore funding options such as personal savings, bank loans, or investment from partners or investors.

Step 5 : Supplier Relationships

Establish relationships with travel APIs suppliers such as airlines, hotels, tour operators, and car rental companies. Negotiate contracts and agreements to access competitive pricing and exclusive deals that you can offer to your clients.

Step 6 : Technology and Tools

Invest in travel technology and software tools essential for starting a startup travel agency, such as booking systems, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and accounting tools. Consider partnering with a Global Distribution System (GDS) provider for access to real-time flight and hotel inventory.

Step 7 : Marketing and Promotion

Develop a marketing strategy to promote your travel agency and attract clients. Utilize online and offline channels such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing, networking events, and partnerships with other businesses in the travel and hospitality industry.

Step 8 : Launch and Operations

Once everything is in place, launch your travel agency and begin offering services to clients. Focus on providing exceptional customer service, building trust and credibility, and continuously refining your offerings based on client feedback and market trends.

By following these eight steps and staying committed to delivering value to your clients, you can successfully open a travel agency in today’s competitive market.

List of the Best Travel Suppliers to Start Travel Agency Online 

Below is the list of top best travel API providers (2024) as per geography and contents. 

Amadeus API

Amadeus is one of the most preferred GDS systems today. Global travel management companies are using Amadeus gds to access online travel contents including airline, hotels, transfers, sightseeing, cars and other ancillary services through Amadeus travel APIs / web services. Amadeus processes the highest number of transactions on a day to day basis. In the last 25+ years, Amadeus has become the largest gds system and the biggest travel content aggregator around the world.

PROVAB API

Provab Technosoft is a leading travel GDS provider and along with its IATA accredited fully owned subsidiary, it helps you to maximize your need of travel inventory through a single unified travel booking API connection while providing rich flight contents aggregated through several IATA and Non IATA consolidators. Provab’s open travel API XML suite includes flight API, hotel API, car API, transfer API and sightseeing API. 

Travelport UAPI

Galileo GDS system – offered by TravelPort, is one of the most sophisticated global distribution systems for travel domain. Galileo GDS provides global distribution services for the travel industry with advanced computer reservation software, top of the line travel system and web services XMLs. B2B and B2C booking software with Travelport universal APIs are surging in India, United States, Mexico, Europe, South Africa and Malaysia. In the last 22+ years, Galileo GDS has become one of the largest gds systems.

Sabre API

Sabre GDS system is the connect between the travel services buyers and sellers. Sabre GDS is supported (in terms of travel inventory) by more than 400 flight carriers, 200,000 hotels, global tour operators and several car and cruise providers. Sabre system is connected to more than 400,000 travel agents worldwide, who are serving to end clients. Sabre GDS system processes more than a million travel booking transactions per minute during the high season. B2B and B2C travel portals with Sabre software system are surging in United States, Europe, UAE, India, Africa (Nigeria, Egypt) and Indonesia.

TBO API

TBO Holidays is one of the leading travel aggregator, connected with 70,000 travel agencies across 100+ countries while using TBO’s award winning platform to book global travel contents online. TBO offers flights, accommodations, cruise, cars, transfers and sightseeing.

PKFare API

PKFARE aggregates real time big data from over 600 airlines, 400,000 properties and 20 DMCs, covering over 100 countries and regions. PKFARE is an innovative global travel trade marketplace offering air tickets, hospitality and destination products. Empowered by its global resources, machine learning technology, big data and dynamic hedging and payment model, PKFARE provides global travel players with smart integrated solutions including real time inventory data, best buy rate, seamless multilingual customer service and diversified product portfolios.

Hotelbeds API

Hotelbeds is one of the largest aggregators with 1,80,000 hotels in around 185 destinations worldwide. Hotelbeds API enables any hotel booking system or distribution platform to provide their agents and B2C clients, best hotels and activities at lowest wholesale rates. Simply using Hotelbeds API integration solution is enough to gain access to vast inventory from multiple sources with competitive prices. Hotelbeds booking API additionally provides you access to additional services such as sightseeing, transfers and even car rentals.

Skyscanner API

Skyscanner was established in 2003 with the unique objective of showing all flight options in one place. Today it has gone from a flight search engine to a global leader in travel. More than 100 million people across the world (that’s quite a few!) rely on its app and website each month to help them with their travel plans. It also provides skyscanner APIs to distribute the contents on global OTA platforms.

Booking.com API

If you are an OTA or a destination website, want to have top of the hotel inventory on your booking platform, integrate Booking.com API. It offers solutions for OTAs, hotel channel managers, property owners and affiliates like travel bloggers and media outlets. The online accommodation platform currently offers over 29,420,861 properties, 12,500 affiliates, and well-architected framework features in 41 languages, 23 countries with payment card supports Visa, American, Express, MasterCard. The Booking.com APIs support both XML and JSON formats using HTTP basic authentication.

Expedia API

Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN) APIs robust structure brings quick responses and retrieves data from multiple sources instantly to give real-time updates on rates and availability on your booking platform. The EAN APIs are used to book hotels, flights and cars. Expedia’s well designed framework enables 200+ travel booking sites across 75 countries and 150+ mobile websites. Expedia API Integration connects any online booking system to 140,000 hotels spread across 245 countries. Expedia has a great user base in the United States, Canada, Mexico, India and UAE.

Kiwi API

Kiwi.com is a leading flight aggregator, based in Czech. The OTA platform of Kiwi.com connects with 750 carriers, including over 250 low-cost carriers. Startup travel agencies can also KIWI API to find flight data and make online reservations and generate business. 

Travel Suppliers Integration Workflow

At Travelomatix, our travel aggregator integration team and framework experts provide extensive support during APIs integration and live certification. They let you leverage the ready codes and libraries to complete the integration sooner than expected. You are assured of full scale OTA or mobile application to build rapid growth in travel booking vertical.

Sandbox Access

Post API contract signoff, agency code is created. Same time, sandbox and test credentials are sent to client’s developers.

Web Services Integration

Developers get the integration kit and they can start integrating PROVAB’s travel APIs on their platform in a seamless way.

Test Cases Evaluation

Post flight APIs web services integration, test cases are sent to client’s developers to validate the logic of application or mobile app.

Live Credentials

On approval of all test cases, followed by few airline bookings in test environment, live credentials are granted to set the application live.

Latest Travel Agency Market Overview (2023 – 2030)

The online travel market is projected to reach a value of $2.3 trillion by 2023, with an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3% during the forecast period. Factors such as the widespread use of mobile devices, improved network connectivity, and increasing disposable income are key drivers of this growth. Additionally, the rising interest in frequent travel, along with the emergence of vlogging culture, is expected to further boost market expansion.

There’s a noticeable trend among younger generations, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, towards favoring digital solutions for travel bookings. These demographics are drawn to advanced booking systems that offer personalized experiences. In response, travel companies are investing in cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Big Data to streamline the online booking process. By harnessing traveler analytics from Big Data, companies can tailor packages to individual preferences, attracting more traffic to their websites and apps and fueling market growth.

List of things to consider before hiring a travel APIs integration company?

Now that you are well aware of travel aggregators and why to integrate travel APIs, you must find the best travel wholesaler and travel API integration company. While plenty of travel technology companies are available, the question is how to find the best travel API company. Let me help you in preparing a questionnaire that fits your requirements.

• What are the major travel API integration services you offer?
• Please provide 7-8 benefits you offer to travel agents?
• Do you make custom web design or use the theme?
• Can you provide the portfolio?
• Do you provide case studies to showcase the results of your web design?
• What is the policy for building websites in comparison with the competitors?
• How do I get the timely work progress of the project?
• What are the types of travel technologies you are specialized in?
• Do you give round the clock support and also handling the updates of the applications?

Importance of Travel Suppliers to Online Travel Agencies

Travel aggregators play a crucial role in market expansion and reach, particularly in niche or underserved markets. Their specialization and expertise allow them to reach customers who may not have direct access to airline booking platforms or traditional travel agencies, thus increasing airlines’ market penetration.
Furthermore, travel aggregators offer efficient distribution channels, simplifying the booking process for travel sellers and consumers alike. They provide flexibility and customization options, such as group bookings and flexible air ticketing, catering to diverse customer needs.

Important Previous Posts :

1. Travel Aggregators for Booking Website

2. Changing Trends of Travel Booking Platforms

3. How to Develop B2B Travel Software

4. Travel Portal Developer

5. Top Flight Aggregator in USA