How Do I Start a Travel Agency Business?

Starting a travel agency business is one of the lowest-risk ways into travel — no airline contracts or big office needed at the start. This guide walks through registering the business, choosing a model and getting live inventory through Offline Booking.

Steps to start a travel agency business

1. Decide your niche and business model — leisure, corporate, group tours or a home-based agency.
2. Register your business and open a current account (sole proprietor, LLP or company).
3. Get the basics — GST registration, a brand name, logo and a simple website.
4. Choose a booking platform or partner instead of costly airline/GDS contracts.
5. Set your markups and payment methods, then start selling and marketing.

Building the business

• Pick a focus — corporate travel, group tours, leisure or a mix.
• Register (proprietor/LLP/Pvt Ltd) and get GST for invoicing.
• Use Offline Booking for live fares and instant ticketing instead of a GDS.
• Set clear markups, credit terms and a simple booking process.

Typical start-up costs

• Business registration & GST — low, often under ₹15,000
• Website/branding — optional to start; a partner portal can replace it
• Working capital — a wallet top-up to issue tickets
• No need for your own airline contracts, IATA licence or office when you start on a partner platform

How Offline Booking helps you start

Start with Offline Booking: join our B2B travel agent programme to get wholesale flight, hotel and holiday fares, a real-time wallet, instant ticketing and even your own white-label booking site — no inventory or airline contracts needed. Registration is free.