1. Basic starting points to consider while setting up a TURBO
NGO RIC, Latvia

2. Selecting the kinds of tourist services to offer
According to the type of activity
Passive – classic seeing, eating, and sightseeing from the bus window
Active – kinds of tourism in which besides of sightseeing and museums, tourists participate actively in the events of different kind, both specially organised and regular ones. The ideas of the events can be educational, entertaining, gastronomic, cognitive, sporting. The common feature of all events is tourists active participation.
Active tourism can be divided into creative and sporting tourism.
Sporting tourism - providing physical activities and exercise, including the extreme sports.
Creative tourism includes educational activities that can be connected with a certain historical époque and its environment, thus enabling the tourists to study a local culture and history via workshops in local handcrafts, various kinds of interactive and educational events (dances, singing, folklore, etc.).
The kinds of active tourism have a great potential for development – finding a unique and attractive activity can give an opportunity also to companies that are situated in remote areas and in a disadvantageous location compared to famous tourist attractions.

3. Touristic goods and services - direct and indirect components
Time, costs and possibilities for both must be considered
Direct services, providing the tourists in direct way
 Basic services in both, active and passive tourism:
- food services,
- accommodation (nights lodging, including side services – dress cleaning, laundry, room cleaning, heating, etc.)
- guided tours, various tourist tours: walking riding, bicycle touring, museums and other sites of interest, souvenirs, booclets, maps, etc.
Special services:
active events like workshops, in gastronomy, winemaking, yoga, sports
regular ones with certain time limits, both regular and one-time-events
Indirect or supporting components, attendant to the touristic business:
 staff training (languages, other skills)
accounting services
printing of the materials
image making, branding and promotion

4. Some more basic starting points
The size of the company. TURBOs – the companies, touristic business owners or those preparing themselves to start the rural tourism business, usually small and medium enterprices (SME) are working in the rural tourism are SME. Are family members/relatives interested in working for a TURBO or is it possible to find helpers in the surroundings?
Business idea - includes the market analysis, information search, making a business plan: who is a target group, are there analogic companies at the touristic market, what is the company’s potential for integration to the market in the competitive conditions, is the touristic product unique and potentially needed on the market.
Resource analysis - what is needed for all components of the service (rooms, furniture, equipment, etc.); will the service be seasonal (like visiting of gardens, for example, or year-round). Logistical calculations: what is the distance between the services and other infrastructure and what are the ways for accessing it. Possible ways of advertising/promotion (internet, social media, booking websites, tourist fairs) – even the best place will be only visited when people know about it.
Financial analysis – loans, incomes from side-jobs.

5. Some more basic starting points
Legal aspects
Legislation of the country of business
Taxation base which depends on the legal form of business
Legal aspects of all activities of the business
Belonging to networks, roof organisations
Psychological aspect
Psychological readiness to realize business plan
Avoiding of burn-out
Sources of psychological support
Good relationships with the neighbors – e.g. discuss and clarify before you start offering hunting tours close to their home, etc.