For a yacht and cruise travel agency, managed IT support usually costs between £45 and £100 per user per month. Where you land depends on how many people you have, how many offices you run (including any overseas), whether your booking systems run on hosted desktops, the travel software you use, and the level of security and PCI compliance you need. For most agencies that is a predictable monthly figure, and far cheaper than a single redirected supplier payment or an hour of downtime in the middle of a crew movement.
Travel is a 24/7, worldwide, deadline-driven business that moves a lot of money, which makes it both demanding to support and a deliberate target for fraud. So IT is about much more than fixing things when they break. The right partner keeps Amadeus, Navitas and your back office running wherever your team is, protects client and crew data and the payments you handle, and gets people working again fast. Here is what you are paying for, what an agency your size should expect, and why the cheapest quote rarely wins.
What drives the price
Number of users and offices
Pricing is per user, so headcount is the starting point, and a single UK office is simpler and cheaper per head than a business running offices in several countries and time zones. Because travel teams grow, shrink and move quickly, it pays to choose a partner who can add and remove people, and whole offices, without it becoming a project each time.
Hosted desktops and your travel software
Most agencies run Amadeus, Navitas, FareXpert and a back office such as TRAMS, and the cleanest way to deliver these to a global team is hosted desktops (Remote Desktop Services). Supporting that environment, and the GDS and fares tools on it, takes real knowledge. A provider who understands travel systems keeps them fast and available, which is worth far more than a cheaper, generic contract.
Security and PCI compliance
Agencies handle card payments and move supplier, refund and crew money, so layered security and PCI DSS compliance are core, not optional. Endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication, application allowlisting, managed email filtering, monitoring and staff training all feed into the monthly figure, and they are what stop the fraud attempts that hit this sector constantly.
The support model
A travel desk does not keep office hours, and a problem during a booking or a crew change cannot wait. Proactive monitoring and fast, knowledgeable response deliver far better value than waiting for things to break, and the cheapest provider is rarely the most cost-effective once lost productivity and risk are counted.
What an agency your size should expect to pay
As a rough guide, based on the £45 to £100 per user range:
- A 10-user agency: roughly £450 to £750 a month for fully managed IT and security.
- A 25-user agency, possibly across two locations: roughly £1,250 to £2,000 a month.
- A 50-user agency with overseas offices and stricter security: roughly £2,250 to £5,000 a month.
These are guide figures, not a quote, but the cost is predictable, per user, and scales with the agency, with no surprise charges for support calls.
What is usually included
A complete managed service for a travel agency should cover the day-to-day and the what-ifs:
- Support for your team, Microsoft 365 and your travel software
- Hosted desktops and device management: monitoring, patching and updates
- Secure access for office, remote and overseas staff
- Managed cyber security: MFA, endpoint protection, allowlisting and email security
- Backup and tested recovery of your systems and data
- Help meeting and maintaining PCI DSS compliance
- Clear reporting and an IT plan that looks ahead, not just a reactive helpdesk
Why the cheapest quote usually costs more
It is tempting to pick the lowest number, but an hour of downtime during a busy booking period, a redirected supplier or crew payment, or a data breach affecting clients and crew costs far more than the gap between a cheap contract and a good one. The right question is not the lowest price, but what it costs the agency when something goes wrong, and who stops that happening.
A real example
Consistency makes a global travel business easier and cheaper to run. We support a travel agency that operates from the UK with offices overseas, all working from the same hosted desktops with consistent security and tested backups. As it has grown and opened new offices, costs have stayed predictable per user and each new location has become a routine setup rather than a one-off scramble.
Why travel agencies choose First Stop IT
First Stop IT has supported businesses since 2002, including travel agencies and travel management companies, and we understand the systems a travel desk runs on: Amadeus, Navitas, FareXpert and TRAMS, delivered securely over hosted desktops, alongside Microsoft 365. We support travel businesses based in Essex, Hertfordshire and London with teams working worldwide. Our credentials include:
- Cyber Essentials Certified
- IASME Cyber Assurance (Gold)
- NCSC Assured Service Provider (Cyber Advisor for Cyber Essentials)
- Microsoft Partner
- Crown Commercial Service Supplier (G-Cloud)
- Quality Principles Certified
We look after more than 2,000 endpoints across 50 companies, we have been named a Top 50 UK MSP for three years running, and we support organisations with 10 to 100 employees across Essex, Hertfordshire and London, including teams working internationally.
Book a free IT and cyber security review
Want IT built around how a travel desk actually works? Book a free IT and cyber security review with First Stop IT.