Business At A Glance
Snorkel Tours
Startup Costs: $2,000 – $10,000Part Time: Can be operated part-time.
Online Operation? No
Business Overview
Tourists, sun, and water are the crucial elements that will make this business start-up a triumphant success. Starting a snorkel tour business is a fantastic way to earn a potentially lucrative income, and enjoy a personally rewarding lifestyle. How do you get customers for this business venture?Easy. Design a very informative and colorful brochure depicting your fun and relaxing snorkel tours, and distribute them to all the hotels, motels, campgrounds, and restaurants in the local area where the business operates. Likewise, you will want to establish pickup times with all of these locations, in terms of starting the tour.
You will have to pay the hotels a booking fee, but the business can easily generate enough revenue and then some to cover the costs of booking commissions. Also consider enlisting the services of a tour-booking agent, as these booking agents work beaches and other busy tourist areas promoting and enlisting clients into the different tour activities they represent. Good booking agents can easily sign up 100 or more tourists in one day for various activities.
Needed Equipment
The requirements for this business enterprise are very specific. You will need general knowledge and experience in snorkeling as well as first-aid training and equipment.However, due to the nature of this business you will be required to carry liability insurance and possibly a certificate or registration number identifying you as a tour operator.
Any business plan should always include research in terms of legal restrictions and registrations. Not required is a waterfront business location, as the idea of the tours is to pick people up at predetermined locations and shuttle them to one or more locations for the snorkeling, or to a boat. Premiere snorkeling areas in North America include Hawaii, the Florida Keys, Texas, and California.
Cold water snorkeling is also becoming popular in areas such as British Columbia, Washington state, and the Great Lakes. However, keep in mind that you will have to invest in two or three milimeter wet suits for customers to wear if you are planning to establish cold-water snorkeling trips. In addition to reef snorkeling, shallow water, surface shipwrecks, and designated marine parks are also popular spots for snorkeling.