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Home Based or Start From Scratch, Starting a Travel Agency is an Experience Altogether
When you are visiting Indonesia, it is a captivating country with numerous places of interest. From mega-cities to serene villages and spotless beaches to adventure tourism, there is something for everyone coming to experience Indonesia. If you were to study the archipelago, there are endless business opportunities in the tourism sector. That’s when you think about how to start a travel agency in Indonesia.
Finding Uniqueness
Indonesia has many potential tourist spots all over the country. If you are still searching on how to start a travel agency in Indonesia, you must at least have a unique advantage. It could be a local attraction, a travel buddy arrangement for a local destination or even bridging the gap between local needs and foreign tourist interest. Despite that, you would still need to do your market research based on the unique advantage. This includes narrowing down your target audience, their demographics and methods of finding your travel agency. The more insight you get about travelling to your area or nearby neighbourhood, the better you can position your travel agency against the market.
Establish a Company
Finally, you have acquired all the needed insights and come up with the ideal travel agency. Many of the travel agencies in Indonesia have a typical start. You can commence as a home-based travel agency or start from scratch. Either way, the only way to get things moving is to register your company. Your travel agency must operate from via a company, and your options could be limited. If you are a foreigner, your company structure is a limited liability company. Unless you decide to invest in a local travel agency, then the entity structure can be other than an LLC. By now, you would already decide on the company name, brand and possibly a tagline. Otherwise, it is impossible to register a company without a trading name. Although a straightforward process, company incorporation could be cumbersome for non-locals to adhere and understand.
A Valid Travel Agency
After you have successfully registered your company, next comes the tourism-related matters. There are laws in place to turn your company into a functional travel agency. Among them is the Tourism Law 2009, Business Certification 2012 and Law 17 of Standard of Business Tourism Area 2014. Nonetheless, there are also further laws according to the province or local government where your travel agency is based. All tourism business, including travel agencies, must acquire Business Register of Tourism (TDUP). The TDUP is valid for as long as the company is active. Once you have obtained all necessary business certificate related to your services, you can finally commence your travel agency.
Available Online
As everything is searchable on the Internet, your travel agency should be on the Internet too. Many travellers across the globe only have the Internet to access other countries such as Indonesia. Hence, it is common sense that your travel agency is available online at all times, whether via social media channels or your website or mobile app.