My Divorce From Argentina

[Ceviche]

What about travel agency kind of business. Will it work? Thinking of bringing rich loaded tourists from China and India to South America. They are the ones who have the money and are in vast no. Will it work or it has pitfalls? Comments

Are there any rich people in South america who will like a travel agency to take them to Asia?

 

[citygirl]

Ceviche - the only issue I see with that is there is no direct flight to China that I know of right now. On my last trip, I had either the option of routing through S. Africa or through the US. Going there, I left on wed and arrived on Friday.

It's not impossible but that's a long flight for people, I'm not sure how big your market would be for that kind of tourism.

ETA - I will also say that when I attended the conference, there were a bunch of people from Brasil, Argentina, etc there. And they were HORRIFIED about the food. Seriously, all of them basically refused to eat anything they were served and were complaining the entire time. So that would probably be an issue to think about in terms of enticing tourists.

 

[Lamb]

What about travel agency kind of business. Will it work? Thinking of bringing rich loaded tourists from China and India to South America. They are the ones who have the money and are in vast no. Will it work or it has pitfalls? Comments

Are there any rich people in South america who will like a travel agency to take them to Asia?

The ones that are doing yoga in Recoleta. As long as you can promise everything will be zen and luxurious, and Asia will make them look 20 years younger.

 

[Ceviche]

Ceviche - the only issue I see with that is there is no direct flight to China that I know of right now. On my last trip, I had either the option of routing through S. Africa or through the US. Going there, I left on wed and arrived on Friday.

It's not impossible but that's a long flight for people, I'm not sure how big your market would be for that kind of tourism.

ETA - I will also say that when I attended the conference, there were a bunch of people from Brasil, Argentina, etc there. And they were HORRIFIED about the food. Seriously, all of them basically refused to eat anything they were served and were complaining the entire time. So that would probably be an issue to think about in terms of enticing tourists.

Actually I already have friends who are running travel agency in China and India. They have asked me to help them enter this market. hence my main work will be this side. But then do you guys think i will get sued for something?

 

[earlyretirement]

What about travel agency kind of business. Will it work? Thinking of bringing rich loaded tourists from China and India to South America. They are the ones who have the money and are in vast no. Will it work or it has pitfalls? Comments

Are there any rich people in South america who will like a travel agency to take them to Asia?

Nah, I wouldn't say there would be too much money in this. I guess it just depends what you consider worth your time. I don't see any true potential to make any significant money from a travel agency business.

If you did do something like this, it wouldn't make sense to base it in Buenos Aires if possible. Probably the main thing will be your website and maybe people to answer the phone but I'd think if people from India and China are your main target you will need people that need to speak Indian and Chinese so probably just hiring someone in those countries if you can pay a lower wage.

The salaries in Buenos Aires aren't high but you have to factor on the mandatory taxes, retirement benefits, etc. of employees. But I consider the real hassle factor the potential liability of having employees. It's really horrible.

The margins with things associated with travel agency are fairly low so you have to have TONS of volume to make any significant money. I just don't think the potential to make any serious money is there when you factor in everything.

I also don't see India and China as large markets for potential tourists for Argentina.

Also, with the tremendous amount of online websites out there, I just don't see travel agencies as the way to go. They are almost like a dinosaur now and tons of travel sites out there and tons of information out there.

People that really want to set up a legitimate business in Argentina don't realize how difficult it is. When setting up an SRL or SA in Argentina you have to have a local on your Board of Directors along with lots of record keeping and keeping your books in order.

It's not like the USA where anyone can set up a corporation in 15 minutes.

 

[earlyretirement]

Actually I already have friends who are running travel agency in China and India. They have asked me to help them enter this market. hence my main work will be this side. But then do you guys think i will get sued for something?

Again, I just don't see China and India as target rich environments for tourists to Argentina. It's a LONG haul and I don't think the mainstream population in these countries has a big desire to visit Argentina.

As far as actual lawsuits they are rare besides actual employees trying to do bogus lawsuits. But since the judicial system doesn't work in Argentina, you don't see a lot of frivolous lawsuits like in the USA. People know if they try to make some bogus lawsuit it will most likely take 3 years to get in front of a judge.

However, when you have employees it's more complicated. For small companies probably it's not as you can just hire people you know and trust and even then you could have problems.

The problem is that even when employees are in the wrong or terminated for just cause.... they hire some shady attorney, which many work on contingency basis, so the employee doesn't have to pay anything at all upfront.

You can spend significant amounts of money fighting them as you have to get a lawyer. It's a long drawn out process. Sometimes taking YEARS. So in the end, it's almost always better to just settle with the employee even if they are not in the right.

It's a very sickening feeling having to do that.

 

[anjuna11]

Probably the main thing will be your website and maybe people to answer the phone but I'd think if people from India and China are your main target you will need people that need to speak Indian and Chinese so probably just hiring someone in those countries if you can pay a lower wage.

I don't mean to romper sus huevos (really I don't), but wanted to point out that 'Indian' is not a language. What you probably meant was Hindi, the most common language spoken in India.

 

[earlyretirement]

I don't mean to romper sus huevos (really I don't), but wanted to point out that 'Indian' is not a language. What you probably meant was Hindi, the most common language spoken in India.

Yes. Thanks for the correction. I meant Hindu. Just typing fast and not proofing. Sorry.

 

[citygirl]

The problem is that even when employees are in the wrong or terminated for just cause.... they hire some shady attorney, which many work on contingency basis, so the employee doesn't have to pay anything at all upfront.

You can spend significant amounts of money fighting them as you have to get a lawyer. It's a long drawn out process. Sometimes taking YEARS. So in the end, it's almost always better to just settle with the employee even if they are not in the right.

It's a very sickening feeling having to do that.

I actually refused to do it on the 2 times employees tried to sue (in 3 years). All the employees were 100% in white, they had QUIT and then threatened to sue. I think they were shocked when I refused to settle with them, they were 100% expecting it. We went to the initial arbitration and they sat there expecting the offer. I told them they were welcome to move forward with the suit but i had signed employee contracts, proof of payments, certified F/S that matched the payments, email records, proof of electronic entry/exit from the premises, etc, etc, etc.

In both cases, they dropped the lawsuit at the end after realizing I wouldn't cave and just settle to make it go away. And that it would take years to get to court and while there was no guarantee (it's Argentina after all), there was a really good chance they would lose.

Sometimes not settling works here. (In both cases, I went against my lawyer's advice to settle). I refused to do it on principle and it wound up working out.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

How are the local tour companies offering travel packages to the english speaking market?

I had some contacts (not me, I'm moving in a different direction!) enquiring about the potential of setting up a local tour company for the English speaking market. Not he luxury end but 20 - 40 type age group.