Selling a Travel & Tourism Business

Most Travel & Tourism businesses price off SDE or EBITDA, but the multiple moves a lot based on what drives bookings and what could disrupt next season. Buyers pay more for transferable permits or concessions, strong direct bookings, stable guide coverage, and review profiles that are owned by the business. Heavy OTA concentration, messy deposit and refund accounting, and high owner involvement usually pull value down. For a starting range, run Rejigg’s free valuation calculator, then sanity-check it using margins after commissions and refunds.

Often, yes. SBA 7(a) loans are common for tour operators, activity companies, shuttle operators, and travel agencies with clean financials and consistent cash flow. Lenders typically dig into seasonality, channel concentration (for example, one OTA driving most bookings), and how dependent the business is on the owner. They also pay close attention to deposits, gift cards, and customer credits because those affect working capital at closing. Rejigg’s SBA loan calculator helps you model payments and down payment scenarios while you negotiate.

No. A broker can be helpful, but many owners run a solid process themselves, especially when they already know their numbers and have permits and accounts organized. Broker fees are commonly 5–10% for packaging, outreach, NDAs, and process management. Rejigg gives you tools to do the same work: buyer access, digital NDAs, a secure data room, and offer tracking. If you want a step-by-step plan, start with the preparation guide.

Most deals take a few months from going to market to closing, but timing can vary a lot based on your season and permit calendar. Many buyers want to avoid buying right before peak season without time to hire, train, and get comfortable with operations. Closing in spring with seller support through the summer often feels safer for both sides. Permit renewal windows and seasonal staff availability can also drive timing and deal terms. Rejigg’s transition planning guide helps you build a timeline buyers can underwrite.

Working capital is usually negotiated carefully because many operators hold cash for future departures while also carrying refund, credit, and supplier obligations. Buyers want a clear snapshot at close: deposits on future trips, outstanding gift cards or credits, and what “normal” cash needs look like for the season. Common approaches include a target working capital with a post-close true-up or treating certain customer deposits as specific liabilities. Rejigg’s deal tracking helps you compare offers so a high headline price does not hide unfavorable working-capital terms.

Expect requests for monthly financials and tax returns, booking and cancellation reports, OTA statements, and a summary of deposits, refunds, and customer credits. Buyers also ask for permits and renewal files, insurance policies and claims history, safety SOPs, waivers, vendor contracts, and an asset list with maintenance and inspection records for vehicles, boats, and gear. You will also need proof of ownership and admin access for your domain, Google Business Profile, TripAdvisor, and OTA accounts. See the due diligence checklist for a clean structure.

In Travel & Tourism, reviews drive conversion. A small rating drop can hit bookings quickly, especially for activities with short lead times. Buyers look at trend lines, review volume, and repeated complaint themes, plus whether the listings and admin access are owned by the company. They also look for brand risk, like a business built around a personality name that may not carry over. With Rejigg, you can share review analytics and account details under NDA so you do not expose sensitive information to casual shoppers.

It depends on the issuer and the permit type. Some commercial use authorizations and concessions can be assigned with approval, while others require a brand-new application and a waiting period that can cost a season. Buyers usually want renewal dates, transfer steps, and written confirmation where possible because access risk can change price and structure. When a permit will not transfer cleanly, a management or transition period is common so the buyer can operate while applying. Rejigg’s data room is a practical place to organize the full permit trail for diligence.

Many smaller travel deals are structured as asset sales, so the buyer can avoid unknown liabilities, including tax issues, employment claims, and past incident exposure. That said, some tourism “assets” can be tied to the entity, like certain permits, OTA accounts, and review profiles, so an entity sale can be worth considering when transferability is the main risk. Deposits, unused gift cards, and customer credits also affect structure because someone has to carry those obligations. Use the deal negotiation guide to pressure-test structure early.

Buyers usually value vehicles, boats, and gear based on condition, hours or mileage, inspection status, and maintenance history, not what the assets cost new. What matters most is operational continuity. If one boat or van going down would cancel a week of departures, buyers will treat that as risk and may adjust price or require a reserve for replacements. A clear asset schedule with logs and inspection records reduces retrades because everyone agrees on what is included and what work is coming due.

Earnouts are fairly common in tourism when performance is sensitive to seasonality, platform rankings, or founder relationships. If you agree to one, it is worth pushing for simple metrics (often revenue or gross profit), a short period that matches an operating cycle, and clear rules on operational control so performance is not accidentally undermined post-close. Earnouts can make sense when access or staffing risk is real, but they should not replace basic diligence. Rejigg’s offer comparison view helps you compare earnout-heavy offers to cleaner cash-at-close options.

Refund behavior often drives working-capital adjustments, holdbacks, or specific legal promises in the purchase agreement, especially when a business issues credits or makes frequent exceptions that are not tracked. Buyers may also request a cutoff rule for pre-close bookings so responsibility is clear. The best way to keep terms clean is to provide a 12-month summary of cancellations, refunds, credits, and chargebacks by channel and reason and show how those entries land in your books. Rejigg’s data room and deal tracker help keep these details explicit in the LOI.

A client list can be valuable, but buyers will ask about quality and usability. That usually means repeat rate, recency, and segment mix (groups, corporate, destination weddings, and so on). Marketing consent and privacy rules vary by jurisdiction and by how the emails were collected, such as booking engines, newsletter sign-ups, or third-party lead sources. Some buyers prefer a warm-introduction and transition process over a straight list transfer. In Rejigg, you can share aggregated list metrics and retention data without exposing personal data until late-stage diligence under NDA.

Common deal breakers include permits or access that cannot transfer and no workable bridge plan, financials that cannot reconcile deposits and refunds, and insurance or safety problems that threaten renewability. Buyers also walk away when the business depends heavily on one OTA or one partner without proof that margins and demand can hold up if terms change. Tangled account ownership is another frequent stopper, like review profiles tied to personal emails with unclear admin control. Rejigg’s process surfaces these risks early so you do not waste months on the wrong buyer.

Confidentiality can be harder in tourism because schedule changes and new faces show up quickly, and platform accounts can flag unusual login patterns. Staged disclosure usually works best. Share high-level information first, require an NDA before you reveal the business name and exact location, and hold staff and partner details until the buyer has shown proof of funds or lender progress. Keep the buyer’s access limited and intentional to avoid accidental leaks. Rejigg helps by pre-vetting buyers and requiring digital NDAs before anyone sees sensitive documents.

Tour operators often collect taxes and fees they do not keep, such as sales tax, park or port fees, or lodging taxes embedded in packages. Buyers will check whether those were calculated and remitted correctly because problems can become a price adjustment. Multi-state activity, cross-border trips, bundled packages, and marketplace-facilitator rules can add complexity. Deposits and gift cards can also create timing differences depending on your accounting method and local rules. Bring your CPA in early, and keep filings and remittance support organized for diligence.

In Travel & Tourism, offers can look similar on price and feel very different on risk. Compare cash at close, working-capital true-ups tied to deposits and credits, any holdbacks for permits or insurance renewals, and earnout terms that span a season. Pay attention to the buyer’s operating plan because sloppy operations can hurt reviews and future bookings fast. Also, check timing against your calendar, since a long closing can push you into peak season. Rejigg’s deal tracking lets you compare offers side-by-side on the terms that matter.

A solid transition often covers at least the next peak season or one full operating cycle when the business is highly seasonal. The plan should be specific: partner and hotel introductions, permit renewal handoff, platform and phone number transfers, training on dispatch and guest messaging, and a written playbook for disruption days like weather, staffing gaps, and refunds. Buyers get uneasy when transition support is vague or too short, especially when the seller currently handles exceptions. Rejigg’s transition planning guide helps you put it in writing as deal terms.