Small Business IDEAS for the Caribbean
Are you interested in starting a business in the hospitality industry? If YES, here are 50 best travel and tourism business ideas you can start (beach side) with little money in 2017.
The travels and tourism industry is a major source of income for most States in the United States of America and of course most countries of the world. The travels and tourism industry provide jobs directly or indirectly to countless numbers of entrepreneurs all over the globe. The opportunities that is available in the industry cuts across service deliveries and product sales, amongst others.
One thing is certain, it is a fact that the travels and tourism industry is not all about tourists, but also about all those who travel from one country to another, from one city to another for various purposes. This is why any investor or entrepreneur who is looking towards starting a business in the travels and tourism industry should expand his or her horizon beyond people that are travelling for the purposes of tourisms to every other traveler. With that, there will be no limit to the business ideas that you can pursue.
The industry is open to both big time investors who have the financial capacity to invest in the aviation industry and also aspiring entrepreneurs who just want to make a living but don’t have start – capital. As a matter of fact, aspiring entrepreneurs who don’t have start – up capital can offer translation services to tourists or serve as tour guide.
Here are 50 thriving and profitable business ideas in the travel and tourism industry that an entrepreneur or investor who is looking towards starting a business can choose from;
- Tourist Guide
One of the travel and tourism related businesses that an entrepreneur can successfully start with little or no money is to become a tourist guide. All that is required to successfully launch this type of business is to ensure that you can speak at least one or more foreign languages. This could be English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese or German. Furthermore, you must also know the terrain pretty well.
Once you are certain that you can effectively translate or interpret, then all that is expected of you to do is to position yourself in places where you can have access to tourists. This could be in a hotel lobby (you would have to negotiate with the hotel manager) or via referrals from a travels and tours company.
Restaurant and bar is yet another business that is part of the business value chain of the travels and tourism industry. Although, most tourists may prefer to eat the food they are familiar with, but it wouldn’t be out of place if you could also include some local delicacy as part of the food you sell in your restaurant. The truth is that some tourists make it mandatory to try out the local delicacies of the community they are visiting. So, ensure that you include local delicacies as part of the food you sell in your restaurant if your restaurant is located in a tourist town.
- Hotel and Lodge (Motel, Inn et al)
Of course, it is a must for visitors to look for places to lodge when they visit any town. Unless they have a host who is ready to accommodate them for the duration they stay for. So, hotel and lodge is a very vital business that is needed in tourist towns.
As a matter of fact, before tourists visit a tourist town, part of their findings will be how to locate the nearest hotel and lodge in the town. The truth is that if a tourist town lacks standard hotels and lodges, then they are likely to attract fewer visitors (tourists). So, as an investor, if you are looking towards starting a travels and tourism related business, then one of your options is to invest in hotels and lodge. Or better still, you can start a bed and breakfast business.
- Taxi and Bus Shuttle Business
Taxi and bus shuttle business is another fantastic travels and tourism related business idea that thrives pretty well in a tourist town. Of course, tourists would want to move together from one tourist site to another hence the need for a bus shuttle services. The bus shuttle could also help transport them (tourists) on arrival from the airport to their hotels and also from their hotels to the airports on their departure. Taxi is also ideal for couples, an individual or a group of 3 or 4 persons.
Rental business is yet another travels and tourism related business that is viable and profitable in a tourist town. There are several stuffs that tourists could rent when they visit tourist sites. It could be a car, scooter, speed boat, canoe or even horse, donkey or camel. The bottom line is to conduct your market survey to know what tourists may likely need in the tourist town that they aren’t able to bring along when they are visiting. Once you have an idea of the stuff that is needed by tourists, then all you need to do is to purchase enough quantities of the stuffs and then position your business in a place that will be visible to tourists.
Photography business is an added business venture in the value chain of travels and tourism industry. Although, most tourists would always travel with their cameras to capture beautiful sites and moments albeit in an armature manner, but if they have the option to make use of a professional photographer, they would gladly embrace it. So, one of the business ideas that is suitable for a tourist town is the photography business. If you are a professional photographer, you can consider opening your own photography business. That is if you live in a tourist town or you can partner with a travels and tours company to become one of their official photographer.
- Souvenir Shop
Souvenir shop is yet another travels and tours business idea that is highly profitable in any tourist town. Loads of visitors would prefer to buy local crafts, unique gifts or native wears, et al from a tourist town as a mark of remembrance. Subsequently, if you are looking for a travels and tourism related business to setup in a tourist town, then you can consider opening a souvenir shop that will be stocked with local crafts and native wears et al. Just ensure that your souvenir shop is well located and looks attractive.
