BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi All,
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about combining my love of skiing and traveling. About a year ago, I booked a ski package in Kashmir with an Australian fellow - his business has been an inspiration to me. I don't think he really does much other than negotiate rates on the ground and collect money from folks who want to go there.


Anybody know anything about starting up a little business like this? Where do you start? What about financing options?


I guess I really don't know what to ask - so let's discuss the possibilities.

The first question is do you know what you want to sell?

I want to sell ski trips/packages...mostly concentrating on unconventional destinations...Kashmir, Iran, Pakistan....maybe the Andes for the S. Hemisphere winter. Probably just accommodation and meals and an add-on option of local guiding.

I think the first step is whether you can start a business in these countries as a foreigner or do you need to do that with a partnership..with a local person. Or are you talking about reselling services in an area.

What are your qualifications for a leadership position like this?

Wilderness medicine experience?
Foreign languages spoken?
Ski instruction/guide certs?
Climbing experience?

These are the kinds of questions that your customers will be asking. You should have good answers.

There are plenty of people who make good money by doing this though. I was lucky enough to befriend Skip Horner and I believe he lives a great life doing exactly this sort of business. But it takes a lot of hard work to build up a reputation and repeat customers.

Good luck!

yes, you can def. do this. A friend of mine did it w/ Kayaking and it worked out really well. The key is great customer service and a quality product. Other than that you need to get a great site and get yourself on top of all the google searches so when someone is researching skiing in some strange spot, you pop up first.

Other than that, depending where you decide to work I would consider getting a lawyer (not from that country) to look over all the paperwork, etc that you need to sign. I know you're probably not setting up shop in Mexico for skiiing but a lot of people get screwed there from the officials.

Having contacts in other countries is a huge plus. Maybe people here can even help out in their respective countries.