The perfect way to start a business is by locating a problem that you would like to solve in your own life. The story of Favisbook began in 2017 when a friend of co-founders Kareem Dus and Mark MacEachen got a job offer in France. The problem was that the job required her to relocate immediately, but the French consulate in New York did not have any visa appointments available for another few months. This meant that their friends lost their job, while Dus and MacEachen got the opportunity to build a business that would assist those looking to get a visa within a limited time frame.
In the five years that have passed Favisbook has become one of the most reliable companies for those looking to expedite their visa appointments. They have managed to find a way to arrange consular appointments within two weeks. Prioritizing their customer’s convenience and needs so as to ensure a successful visa application.
With a few years under their belt, Favisbook is now planning to expand their services to Canada and to become one of the primary businesses offering both travel forecasting services and visa application services. Much like the US, Canada has a high level of tourism coming from abroad. In fact, tourism spending in Canada makes up 31.1% of the country’s GDP, and 17.9% of employment is attributed to the tourism industry.
Even amidst the period of pandemic restrictions, tourism-related activities continued to grow as travellers from the U.S.A frequently travelled to Canada for vacation. Passenger air travel has also grown and in the third quarter of 2021, the tourism spending by international visitors increased by 247.3%. This clear growth in the market is bound to continue as more and more countries lift their travel restrictions.
Favisbook is now preparing to enter the Canadian market dynamically. As Kareem Dus, the founder of the company has explained his company is entirely data-driven. This means that they are actively looking at the available data to determine how geopolitical changes will affect certain industries and alter the patterns in customers’ behaviour. In Canada, Dus has seen a strong market that is widely growing, and because of the ever-changing political circumstances and diplomatic relationship between Canada and other countries in America and Europe, the need for expert services that can forecast behaviours and can strengthen the industry is ever-growing.
Strategic decision-making is a key part of how Favisbook is maintaining its leadership position as an expedited visa service. Where other services are willing to just accept the status Quo Favisbook is actively turning its attention towards new markets and examining how political changes may bring forth change and leave a gap in the market that they will be able to exploit. What gives the founders of this company a unique perspective in all of this, is that they fully understand that the current legal framework that is in place for tourism and visas in most countries is not only archaic but also completely unsustainable. As travel becomes more and more accessible, people are looking for convenience and for ways to travel without having to fall victims to the bureaucracy. Tourism services, including travel agencies, have for the most part just accepted the way things are and often let individual clients handle all of their visa requirements on their own. While in an ideal world that might work, the reality is that that could lead to loss of profits for tourism companies who will lose out on clients not willing to take on all the struggles of applying and getting approved for a visa.
This is why above all else Favisbook is looking for ways to actively offer a consulting and forecasting service to businesses in the tourism industry that will allow them to lighten their own load without missing out on valuable clients. By mediating the visa application process and ensuring that all appointments occur not only faster but after a well-prepared application, Favisbook can help ensure that individual and group travellers will be able to enter their country of choice without trouble.
More importantly, with Favisbook travel agencies will be able to guarantee that their clients will get to travel within a reasonable time frame. While the process of gaining a Canadian visa is not necessarily complex, it is uncertain. Part of that uncertainty is derived from the fact that there is no set time frame within which you should be able to receive your visa. For this reason, travellers are often advised to start the visa process as soon as possible if they are planning to visit the country. But how is it that Favisbook manages to simplify and streamline the visa process so much?
The reality is it all comes from strategic positioning and always staying up to date with the current policies and news. As different markets open up, it is important for the company to establish itself as a strong contender while ensuring that all those who use their service manage to book their visa appointments and gain access to their country of choice as quickly as possible. With the awareness of how the market is moving they also allocate more personnel and resources to specific areas that need more attention. Their business is constantly flowing, and no process remains stagnant or becomes unusable after a time. What’s more, the founder Kareem Dus has noted that persistence and dedication to figuring out the visa processes are what has allowed them to develop their business so far. At first, a lot of it was trial and error, but with every trial, the company learned something new about how to successfully carry out their business.
As they delve into the Canadian market, they are sure to use some of their already existing practices and are bound to continue learning as they navigate the market. With their heavy focus on research and understanding policy and changes, Favisbook is guaranteed to quickly become one of the most prominent forecasting companies within the tourism industry, while simultaneously providing services to simplify the visa process and allow tourism businesses to serve their clients even better.
