business idea, need opinions please

[karentan]

hiya
this wont be of any use to people on the disboards cos we're all obsessive planners anyway, but an idea came into my mind a while ago and i was wondering what people's opinions of it are.

right i know there are wedding co-ordinators out there, and other planner-type people, but i was wondering if there's such a thing as a holiday planner (not a travel agent though!!)
do you reckon people would be interested in having someone else doing all the scut-work bit of the holiday planning (ie: looking for cheap flights, looking for hotels etc), then just passing them through the links so they can book it direct themselves? for example, you want a villa in the £400-500 p/w price range, i do all the research, send you links to 3 or 4 good villas, then you can book it yourself.
not sure if i'm explaining this very well, or if its even a legitimate idea, but i was wondering if its something that people may possibly be interested in. or would they just prefer to book everything direct with a travel agent and pay way over the odds (commission and everything included!!) for ease of service?
basically i wouldnt be booking anything, i'd just pass over leads for good deals/cheap flights/good places to stay/car hire quotes etc.... and they'd pay for it themselves. (i just love planning, and want to do more of it, even if its not for me!!) i'd take care of ADR planning, booking golf tee-times, tours etc.

do you reckon it could ever be a legitimate business idea?
thanks for your comments
x

 

[Chilly]

I suppose it would depend on how much you would charge?

 

[Dimplenose]

I'm not sure what you are offering. After a near disaster of booking everything ourselves (2 of the firms we dealt with are now out of business (one was ABTA bonded) - after we had our holiday luckily) I'm sorely tempted to pay over the odds for the ease of booking package with one of the big companies next time we go to WDW.

Would you be offering any insurance/alternative holiday if your recommended suppliers went out of business or didn't provide the service paid for?

Libby

 

[Frances999]

I doubt it would be overly successful, to be honest. These days people who are looking at booking different trip components separately are likely to be the kind of people who won't mind spending a little time on the web searching for deals themselves. Even if they don't want to search, there are so many forums and discussion groups where such information can be got for free from the help of other vacationers. People who don't want to do this are likely to just go for a package from a TA - presumably these are the people you would be targeting.

Perhaps if it was very low cost it might be worthwhile, but to be honest the last thing you would want is the hassle of villas getting double booked/flights getting cancelled/park tickets not working....and YOU getting the blame for recommending the company in question.

 

[Cochise]

Had the same thought on this myself recently and these are my thoughts:

You are on a hiding to nothing recommending specific companies and deals because as mentioned if it goes wrong or they have an awful time then they are going to be gunning for you possibly as serious as court action

You could consider the planning side leaving out the booking side of stuff and concentrate on providing best park/day and what is going on in the parks etc. Travel directions and other entertainment but it is hard to target the right audience. If you web advertise then you are likely preaching to the people who are planners themselves and have access to the details you have. I am considering the same sort of thing in my area but will advertise in the local shops and rags to target a possible non internet expert type of person.

After all this i think the time spent to what you can charge is very difficult to justify the time. But for me this will be merely a try out to earn a little bit whilst i complete my plumbing training.

 

[Frances999]

If you web advertise then you are likely preaching to the people who are planners themselves and have access to the details you have.

Not to mention the competition - this sector is getting very overcrowded. There is already TourGuideMike, a vacation planning service by the Unofficial Guide and don't the Brit's Gudie do a similar service now, too? That's on top of the free information from the multitude of Disney forums, and general free sites such as AllEars, Mousesavers, Laughing Place etc.

 

[karentan]

yeah didnt think it would work really. thanks for the input!

 

[carolfoy]

can i just add that you don't necessarily pay 'way over the odds' through a travel agent! I saved £400 today off an online quote from ebookers for a group of 6 to miami and a cool £350 for a couple against their expedia quote for malaysia
guess you have to know the difference between a travel agent and a travel consultant though

 

[fizz13]

You know i had the very same idea and would have included meal bookings, itineraries tailor made to the individual family and passing on deals, i even bought my own web domain to do it and had the copy, graphics all good to go. Then I realised to make it cost effective I would have to charge way more than was really a decent price and to offer that kind of personal service would be so time consuming i wouldn't be able to take on enough clients to make a decent turnover.I was also worried about any infingement on Tour Guide Mike etc although slightly different to what I would have offered, but similarities are bound to occur in the nature of it and the disney community is very tight knit and loves disney justice lol, i was very sad about the whole thing.
then i stumbled across someone on ebay who is offering exactly what we are talking about, geared to disney world and for a great price so i am quite dissapointed about the whole thing now, which will teach me that if i have an idea don't wait for it, just do it before someone else jumps in.
It make sense though doesn't it, when we are on these boards collecting information and tips to not pass it on to the masses. One of these days I shall find a way to get paid for my love of disney

 

[paulh]

think there is a firm that dos this ,called travel councilers.you tell them what you want they do the rest.Did there head office up in boton a few years ago.am sure there are a few on these boards or used to be
Paulh

 

[T16GEM]

Blimey you can find anything on ebay these days!