By Ayoola Olaitan
Shippers Guide is the learning page of MMS Plus newspaper. Here you learn the 5Ws and most important ‘H’ on various aspects of shipping. This week, we would take you through a detail process of how to maximize investment opportunities at the airports. Enjoy it:
Airports is no longer a points of landing and taking off, they are cities all over the world and they are center for commerce and trade, tourism and gateways into countries. They are export points and manufacturer’s points.
The industry is becoming saturated as there are more and more opportunities available in the industry. It is one of the businesses that catch the fancy of investors due to the kind of returns it garners.
In this article, we will look at profitable business ideas that can be done around the airports with huge profits return which are;
Lodging
Many travelers prefer to stay in lodging houses instead of hotels. Unlike a hotel, lodging is cheaper and the experience is homier. It is best that you study and learn about the business before investing your hard-earned money into it. If you own a property, you can convert it to a lodge.
Another alternative is to lease a property and convert it into a lodge. When getting a leased property, ensure you read the contract carefully and are satisfied with the arrangement before appending your signature.
Additionally, the lodging business is location-driven, so target a location where tourists and travelers come and go that is not far from the airport Some motorists prefer to stay at lodges overnight rather than driving all night to avoid dangers and accidents.
To start a lodging business, get the necessary permits and licenses to make your business legal. This will save you from facing future challenges with the government. Importantly, design your lodge to attract prospective clients and be creative with naming your lodge. You might also need to set up a mini restaurant that’ll cater for the feeding need of your guests.
Private Tour Guide Company
Are you a lover of culture and history? Do you love helping people get new exciting experience? If so, a tour guide business may be your best bet. Basically, a tour guide knows interesting facts and history of a location and passes on the information in an entertaining way to a group of visitors. He/she takes the visitors around a particular location and narrates the history and culture surrounding the location.
Luggage Delivery Service
Luggage delivery service is also one of the profitable tourism business ideas you can start. The idea behind the delivery services is to make traveling as headache-free as possible. Luggage delivery service involves helping travelers handle their bags so they won’t have to struggle with them on their flight, or overhead bins. They ensure their luggage waits for them at their final destination when they arrive.
Before starting this business, look up the competitions involved so you know how best to penetrate the market. You also need to come up with extensive planning as to what you can do differently to attract prospective clients. One major factor that can contribute to your success in this business is quality and prompt delivery of baggage. This will help you build goodwill and trust in the mind of customers.
Event Organiser
Do you know how to organise events in a professional and exciting way? If so, you can help throw welcoming parties and private events to reunite travelers with their friends and families. This tourism business idea is both financially rewarding and exciting. Becoming a professional event organiser requires, among other things, a good amount of experience and sometimes, formal training. To be the go to person, come up with creative event ideas that your customers cannot resist.
One satisfied customer can refer you to their circle of influence as well. The profit you can make in this business is largely dependent on the type of event required by your customers. The interesting part of this business is that you can learn it as fast as possible and get started. First, research people already running this type of business to learn the nitty-gritty of the business. You can connect with potential customers via social media and by sharing your flyers at airports.
Car Rental Services
Car Rental Services is another business ideas to invest in. Tourists want to visit as many places as possible when they visit a new location and they’ll need a car to convey them to these places. Most times, people may be willing to rent expensive cars they wouldn’t otherwise own. So, that is an opportunity for your business to capitalise on. If you have a car or fleets of cars at your disposal, you are good to start. And, if you don’t have your personal car just yet, you can consider purchasing or leasing one or two luxury cars for a start.
Note that the car rental business can be competitive, so you need to figure out what people want and make it accessible to them. Car rental businesses at airports tend to do well. Ensure the cars have required licenses and permits to operate without restrictions. Don’t also forget to purchase a comprehensive insurance policy for your fleet.
Tourism Publications
Have you come across tourism publications before? Sample of such magazine is Nigeria Travels Magazine and African Tourist Magazine. If this interests you, there’s no ceiling to the profit involved in the business if you understand how it works. Basically, tourist publications contains tourism stories, tourist guides and locations, list of hotels, business opportunities in the industry, new places people can visit, tourism news and the likes.
This business also requires printing knowledge, so among other requirements, you need to invest in essential printing knowledge. You can start weekly or monthly tourism publications and reach out to companies to advertise their business in it. Part of the information to be contained in your publication is the prices of tickets for the different airline companies as this is an important information tourists would love to have.
Bodyguard Business
Another profitable tourism business idea an intending entrepreneur should consider is bodyguard business. The threat of global terrorism and kidnappings has caused an increase in the demand for bodyguards. You need to be experienced to run this type of business and also be in connection with a network of bodyguards. Some celebrity and top politicians visiting airports will need bodyguards for safety purposes.
Additionally, note that individuals seeking to start a bodyguard business without prior security experience will find it extremely difficult to find clients. There’s also an age limit to this business. Usually, you need to be above eighteen years to be in this business. More than that, you will need to get trained in a security company before you can venture into this business and also get familiar with the basic requirements you need to meet up with.
Airline Company
This is also one of the profitable tourism business ideas that have enriched many. This is actually a big-time business that requires huge capital to begin. If you have ample experience in aviation and you have the capital to invest in it, then you can consider an airline company.
If you don’t have the required capital, you can consider getting bank loans or partnering with investors looking to put funds in a lucrative venture. You also need to critically study those already in the industry because there are licenses and requirements you have to meet up with.
Travel Blog
Travel blog is a profitable tourism business idea to also consider especially if you are into the sale of tourism products. It can increase your sales in your existing target market, as well as create new opportunities for your business. To start a travel blog, you need to learn how to write for the web, and to optimise your blog for visibility.
In order to have different feels on your blog, you can employ other bloggers to write for you. The different types of people you can invite to contribute to your blog include professional travel bloggers, professional photographers, or videographers, and writing experts.
Sharing your contents is very important to the discovery of your blog. You can share your content via social media channels, sending newsletters to visitors, encouraging other people to share your blog posts.
Also, approach relevant travel magazines/e-magazines to see if they are willing to publish your content. Furthermore, include buttons on your blog that makes it easy for visitors to share your blog posts on their social media. Once your blog gains visibility, you can reach out to travel agencies and tourism companies to run an advert through your blog. Note that blogging requires a certain level of hard work and consistency before you can benefit from it.
Travel Agency Business
The travel agency is a simple business model that doesn’t require so much to start. Several people travel from one place to another. Nigerians especially can be found in almost every part of the world and many Nigerians are looking for ways to travel outside the country. Therefore, there is huge traffic available for you to tap into. Many people travel for several purposes such as education, business, fun, sightseeing, etc.
Basically, Travel agencies assist travelers in caring for their travel needs at a cost. Some of these travel needs include but not limited to booking of flights and buying flight tickets, acquiring visas, booking, and paying for hotel accommodation.
To start out as a freelance travel agent, you do not need so much capital or infrastructure. Actually, you can run the business from the comfort of your home. With your internet-enabled computer system and a printer, you are good to go. You can start with as low as N100,000.
Online Hotel Booking Site
If you are a web or software developer, here is a tourism business idea for you. If you cannot build one, you will have to hire a professional travel portal development company. Also, hotel booking websites require secure payment gateway that can accept payments in any foreign currency.
Therefore, get a good payment gateway that will accompany the site. Hotels.ng is a good example of an online hotel booking site and you can see how successful it has become. Truly, people lodge in hotels everyday and will need an easy means to book for their rooms. So, owning a site that caters to that is a good business model.
