10 April 2014
There is no denying that if you want to set up your own travel business, the UAE and specifically Dubai is the ideal place to do it. No matter how you conduct the due diligence process, the result will be the same - investing in a travel business is a wise decision. But there is a proviso. That business has to have at its core one thing that technology and online travel agents can never provide - emotion.
In my last post, I talked about travel as being an emotional experience and that's the nub of the problem here in the UAE. Very few, if any, traditional travel agents in this region get that and therefore the service offered to this lucrative model is very transactional. And transactional service is pushing travellers away because they don't see the value and can't feel the care. Online travel agents love this because it makes their job of luring customers onto their search engines a little easier. But a search engine doesn't have a heartbeat and therefore no capacity to care. Is this what a customer investing hard earned money and time in the trip of a lifetime deserves? Absolutely not.
Dubai has become a global hub and as a result of its prime geographic position, it is now the world's most connected city. It has a growing population with the financial means to travel. Expats tend to be adventurous by nature and keen to take advantage of the Emirates, flydubai, Air Arabia and Etihad repidly growing networks to explore what is nowadays a much smaller and more accessible world. Emiratis love to travel and of course we have Expo 2020 bringing in 25m visitors in just six years' time. So does it really get any better than this? I don't believe so.
So your due diligence will tell you that the UAE is a market with temendous mobility. If you widen the scope of your assessment, it will also show that there is also strong demand for inbound travel to be buoyed by Expo 2020. After all, Dubai is one of the world's most favoured destinations to visit with 11m tourists arriving last year.
Therefore, should you seriously contemplate setting up a business in the UAE? If you get that travel is an emotional experience - YES. If you understand the critical nature of business travel and know how to truly deliver a managed travel programme - YES. If you understand the fundamental difference between a transactional world and a super-relational world - YES. If you have the passion, the energy and the time to build relationships and develop customer loyalty - YES. If you have a decent network of potential customers - YES.
If you can honestly answer all of these questions positively, the chances are that you are wired to run your own successful travel business by creating a unique experience for your customers. You will have the potential to do what only a handful of agents are able to and that is run your own relational business that creates true value for your clients resulting in enviable leads of customer loyalty and advocacy. In simple terms, you will have an honest travel business that differentiates itself through a deep understanding of travel and genuine customer care delivering dream holidays and responsible, efficient business travel.
Decision made then, but then there are dozens of questions that need answers. How easy is it to set-up a business? How do I get a trade license and how much will it cost? How much working capital will I need? Will I need an IATA license? What suppliers will I sell? Will I need to invest in technology? And so on. That's where Travel Counsellors comes in. Since 1994, we have been hand-picking exceptional travel professionals to join our family as home-based agents on a franchise basis. We provide all of the above and more. We cover the majority of the costs and pay you the lion's share of the gross margin on your business. It's very simple, relatively risk-free and extremely rewarding. Just ask any of our 1,300 Travel Counsellors across the 8 countries in which we operate.
The purpose of this post is not to sell our franchise opportunity, that's not what we do. It's to share my views on the potential of this market and to let you know that setting up your own business in Dubai doesn't have to be difficult or a drain on your savings.
Travel Counsellors is the only retail travel business authorised to appoint home-based franchisees so if you share the views in this post and really want to have your own business, please get in touch.
