What does an incoming agency do, and when do you need one?

Whether you are hosting business partners, a delegation or a group of clients in Prague, or sending them there, dozens of small tasks sit behind their stay. Who will meet them at the airport? Where will they stay? Who will show them around Prague Castle, where will they eat and how will they get back to the hotel at ten in the evening? Handling all of this is exactly what an incoming agency does. In this article we explain what it arranges, who it works for, how it differs from a DMC and from a tour operator, and when it is worth bringing one in.

What incoming means

The travel trade distinguishes two directions. Outgoing, or outbound, tourism means trips from a country to destinations abroad: a beach holiday, a sightseeing tour of Italy, a ski trip to the Alps. Incoming, or inbound, tourism is the opposite direction: people from abroad travelling into a country, in our case the Czech Republic. A trip that is outbound from your point of view is incoming from ours.

An incoming agency therefore works at the destination end of the trip. It knows the local hotels, transport companies, guides, restaurants and event venues, understands how the city works and takes charge of your guests the moment they land. The same role also goes by the names ground handler and receptive operator, and in Czech it is called an incomingová agentura.

What an incoming agency arranges

The range of services varies from company to company, but it typically includes:

• Airport meet and greet and transfers. A driver with a name sign in the arrivals hall, and cars, minivans, minibuses or coaches.
• Accommodation. Hotels chosen to fit the programme and the budget, and for groups a block of rooms and a rooming list.
• Transport during the stay. A car with a driver for the whole day, a coach for an excursion, a ride back from dinner.
• Guides. Licensed guides for tours of Prague and day trips, with several guides at once for larger groups.
• Restaurants and group menus. Tables, private rooms and set menus booked in advance, with special diets and allergies taken care of.
• Tickets and programme. Concerts, opera, sports matches and timed entry to the sights.
• Trips outside Prague. Kutná Hora, Karlštejn, Český Krumlov, Karlovy Vary and other places.
• Coordination on the ground. One contact who deals with changes and the unexpected.

Who it works for

The traditional client of an incoming agency is a tour operator or travel agency abroad. It sells the trip to its customers at home, and the agency in Prague arranges the services on the ground. Many requests, however, come straight from the people who organise or host the visit:

• Companies that host business partners, customers or colleagues from the parent company, or bring their own teams to Prague.
• Universities, research institutions and public authorities that receive or send delegations and expert visits.
• Conference and corporate event organisers who need to look after participants beyond the programme itself.
• Private individuals who are bringing family or friends to Prague, or expecting them there, and want to plan a comfortable programme for them.

For hosts and organisers, working with an agency has one big advantage. You focus on the substance of the visit, meaning the meetings, the presentations and the people, and the agency takes care of the logistics around it.

Incoming agency, DMC and tour operator

These terms overlap, which makes them easy to mix up.

A DMC (destination management company) is essentially an incoming agency that focuses on corporate clients: incentive trips, conferences, gala dinners and team building. In Prague, many companies do both. You can read more about this role on our DMC for Prague page.

Tour operators and travel agencies, by contrast, are legal categories defined by Czech law. A tour operator (cestovní kancelář) needs a concession, which is a trade licence granted with state approval. It may sell package holidays and must be insured against insolvency. A travel agency (cestovní agentura) operates under a general trade licence and sells individual travel services. Legally, an incoming agency can be either. We look at the difference in detail in our article on Czech tour operators and travel agencies.

When an incoming agency is worth it

Not every visit needs an agency. The following situations, however, usually mean that one pays off:

• A group is coming. Ten people on different flights, with different dietary needs and one shared programme, is a logistics task, not a couple of bookings.
• The programme has several parts. The airport, the hotel, meetings, a guided tour, a dinner and a trip to Kutná Hora all have to be timed to follow on from one another.
• Your guests are in Prague for the first time and do not speak Czech. They need someone to show them the way, and a guide they can talk to.
• You do not have the capacity. A colleague who spends a whole week calling restaurants and transport companies is not doing their own job.
• You want one supplier and a clear overview. Instead of ten bookings with ten companies, you have one quote that shows every service separately.
• First impressions matter. With business partners and official delegations, every mix-up at the airport and every empty seat at the table is noticed.

What it can look like in practice

Imagine a company expecting eight business partners from three countries at its Prague office for three days. They arrive on two flights at two different terminals, one guest is vegetarian and the head of the delegation would like to see Prague Castle. The agency arranges a meet and greet for both flights, a hotel close to the office, a car with a driver for the days of meetings, a three-hour guided tour of the castle and the Old Town, a private room for a shared dinner with an adapted menu and the transfer back to the airport. The company receives one schedule and one quote that shows every item separately, and its people can concentrate on the meetings.

When you do not need one

Let's be honest. If one colleague is coming for a two-day meeting, you already have a hotel with a corporate rate and they will take a taxi or the trolleybus from the airport, you do not need an agency. The same goes for internal meetings where guests look after themselves. An agency makes sense where it saves you time and reduces the risk of something going wrong.

How it works, step by step

1. Brief. Send the dates, the number of guests, the purpose of the visit and your idea of the programme. A few sentences are enough to start.
2. Proposal and quote. The agency prepares a draft programme and a written quote.
3. Confirmation. Once you approve it, the agency books all the services and confirms them in writing.
4. Documents before arrival. The schedule, meeting points and details of the drivers and guides. With us, you receive them 24 hours in advance.
5. Support during the stay. One contact deals with delayed flights, programme changes and the unexpected.
6. Invoicing. Based on the confirmed quote, including any changes you approved during the preparations.

What to ask an agency

• What is its legal status, its company registration number (IČO) and its trade licence?
• Does it work only with guides who hold the Czech National Guide Card? Guiding for pay in the Czech Republic has required the card since 2021.
• Does it confirm every service in writing, and what are its cancellation terms?
• Who will be your contact during the programme, and how can you reach them in the evening?
• How does it handle your guests' personal data, such as names and passport numbers?

How we work

PraguePrivate is a travel agency (cestovní agentura) based in Prague, with a team that has more than 20 years of experience in tourism. For visitors from abroad we arrange individual services: transfers, hotels, cars with drivers, licensed guides, restaurants, tickets and day trips. Everything is set out in one itemised quote, and you have one contact from start to finish. How we work with companies and trade partners is described on our incoming travel agency page. If you are preparing a visit, ask us for a free, itemised quote.