Travel Business Opportunity: The Right Plan for VC’s and Entrepreneurs

Travel remains a growth sector with amazing possibilities, even when there are lulls in consumer or business-related bookings. If this is that lull, then the sector must be promising for the years ahead.

The US and global economy is expected to improve, and any easing of the Trump tariffs toward more equitable trading relationships should help boost travel investment opportunities.

Questions and Answers for Travel VCs

The questions VCs have are which niches or aspects of travel sales have a future and what is defensible.

In this post, we answer these and other important questions for VC investors and entrepreneurs. It’s at the initial planning phase where errors and weak trajectories happen. An initial process can help awaken you to the real opportunities in the travel business.  If you’re a venture capitalist scanning the web and ChatGPT for new business opportunities in travel, let’s explore this now. If you’re a frustrated investor who feels trapped in another sector and it’s just not producing, then this might be your doorway into a new exciting venture – one that makes you jump out of bed each morning for another glorious day of adventure. Travel has a lot to offer, but needs good choices.

It’s wise to read up on the general travel market and the US travel market to gauge where demand is expected. Then you can explore what we discuss here, about how to drill down, capture travel customers fully with an awesome solution they can’t live without, using AI technology, to optimize and scale up cost efficiently, and build your loyal, owned audience base. And powering it all is the idea that your travel brand is “the only one they’ll ever want.”

If you have all this baked into your new travel startup venture, you’re going to be hard to beat.

Of course, researching and planning an investment-worthy business is no easy task. Please use this approach as an initial guide which you can refine, when the single ideal travel business idea comes into view.

Your New Travel Business Venture Research Plan

You can confer with your advisor and collect research from Skift, WTTC, or Phocuswright. But here is a general overview of a process that can help you gain clarity, once you’ve found a niche with potential.

1. Choose the Right Entry Point (Niche with Expansion Potential)

Avoid looking to beat Expedia or Travelocity, etc., because travel as a commodity is too competitive, and for them.  Instead:

• Start narrow, expand wide. For example: focus first on wellness retreats, digital nomad stays, or luxury adventure tours — then scale horizontally.
• Pick a niche where fragmentation is high and current booking tools are clunky (e.g., tours/experiences, small boutique stays, remote-worker travel).
• Position it as a platform play from day one: own the vertical, then branch into adjacent categories.

2. Build Around the Traveler’s Full Journey

Design the product so it doesn’t just take a booking — it stays with the traveler before, during, and after the trip. That means:

• Discovery layer: SEO, TikTok-style short-form video, AI trip inspiration.
• Planning layer: AI-powered itinerary builders, bundling transport + lodging + activities seamlessly.
• Transaction layer: Payments, insurance, financing (buy-now-pay-later for big trips).
• In-destination layer: Mobile app with navigation, local recommendations, chat support, community features.
• Post-trip layer: Share reviews, content, and loyalty perks — feeding the cycle.

3. Leverage Technology as the Differentiator

Entrepreneurs win in travel when they solve for decision fatigue and personalization.

• Build an AI-first product that recommends rather than overwhelms.
• Use first-party data (user profiles, preferences, travel history) to sharpen personalization.
• Add APIs and integrations (flight data, hotel availability, insurance, mobility, payment providers) to create a one-stop-shop experience.

4. Monetization Beyond Commission Fees

OTAs live on commission — but that’s low-margin and risky. New models to adopt:

• Subscription/membership (loyalty passes, exclusive perks, “Prime for travel”).
• B2B SaaS (sell booking/management tools to tour operators and small agencies).
• Fintech layers (trip insurance, financing, cross-border payments).
• Community-driven upsells (events, experiences, exclusive add-ons).

5. Solve the Trust & Community Gap

Consumers are tired of anonymous reviews and endless choice. Entrepreneurs can win by:

• Adding social/community features so travelers connect with like-minded people.
• Curating trusted providers instead of listing every option.
• Offering in-destination support (live chat, local partnerships) to build loyalty.

6. Start Lean, Scale Smart

• MVP approach: build a single-vertical product (e.g., AI planner for digital nomads).
• Test traction with content marketing + organic channels before scaling paid ads.
• Use partnerships (coworking brands, tour operators, boutique hotels) to accelerate supply without heavy upfront investment.
• Once data + engagement grow, raise capital for expansion into the full platform vision.

The way to capitalize is to start small in a specialized niche, but design for scalable, end-to-end ownership of the traveler journey. Think ecosystem, not transaction.

Lean Startup Playbook: Building a Scalable Online Travel Business

How about a playbook for a minimum viable travel business and product while being open to strong scalability?

Step 1: Define the Niche + Vision

• Niche Entry: Choose one underserved vertical (e.g., digital nomad travel, wellness retreats, boutique adventure tours).
• Vision: Frame it as more than a booking engine — instead as the first building block of a platform that owns the full traveler journey (later it will evolve into subniches/services that expand your service range for a more complete solution).
• Validation: Interview travelers + small suppliers to confirm pain points and preferences (e.g., too much choice, poor discovery, no loyalty).

Step 2: Build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

• Core feature: Start with a lightweight platform that solves one painful problem. Examples:
  • AI trip planner that curates 3–5 options instead of 500.
  • Membership pass offering discounts + perks for one niche (e.g., yoga retreats).
  • SaaS tool for small tour operators to digitize their bookings.
• Tech Stack: Use APIs for flights/hotels, embed fintech tools (Stripe, Wise, BNPL), and layer in a basic AI recommendation engine.
• Goal: Launch fast, gather behavioral data, and test conversion.

Step 3: Early Customer Acquisition (Low-Cost Growth)

• Content Marketing: Position as a thought leader — TikTok/YouTube for discovery, blog for SEO.
• Partnerships: Team with niche influencers, coworking brands, retreat leaders.
• Community: Build a waitlist model or private membership feel (“be part of the first 1,000 travelers shaping this”).
• Cheap Growth Hack: Focus on viral content + referral programs instead of expensive Google Ads.

Step 4: Monetization Strategy

Instead of only relying on commissions, layer revenue streams:

1. Subscription/membership → recurring revenue & loyalty.
2. B2B SaaS → digitization tools for suppliers.
3. Fintech integrations → insurance, BNPL, FX fees.
4. Premium upsells → exclusive experiences, concierge services.

💡 The more you can smooth seasonality with subscriptions or B2B services, the more VCs will pay attention.

Step 5: Data & Personalization Flywheel

• Capture first-party data (preferences, past trips, social signals).
• Use AI to refine recommendations → better conversion → more data → deeper personalization.
• Build trust by curating, not overwhelming (limited, high-quality options).
• Long-term moat = data + personalization that OTAs cannot replicate at scale.

Step 6: Expand the Platform (Post-Validation)

• Add adjacent categories: if you start with retreats, expand to flights/lodging; if you start SaaS for operators, add consumer-facing discovery.
• Layer in in-destination support (mobile app, chat, AR navigation, community events).
• Roll out loyalty ecosystem: reward travelers for reviews, referrals, repeat bookings.
• Position as a one-stop ecosystem: from inspiration → planning → booking → experience → sharing.

Step 7: Investor Storyline

Frame the company not as “a travel site” but rather as:

• A tech + data platform with massive scalability.
• Solving the fragmentation problem in a trillion-dollar industry.
• Delivering recurring revenue in a seasonal market.
• Positioned for global expansion via partnerships.

VCs fund travel startups when they see platform potential + defensibility.

Travel Business Example: “NomadPass” Startup Concept

• MVP: A subscription-based platform offering discounted long-stay lodging + cowork/culture experiences for digital nomads in 10 cities.
• Monetization: $29/month subscription + commission from partner stays.
• Acquisition: Nomad influencers, coworking partnerships, viral social campaigns.
• Expansion: Add fintech (insurance, payments), curated flights, loyalty rewards, in-app community.
• Investor Pitch: “We’re the ecosystem for the $200B digital nomad economy, turning fragmented options into a seamless platform with recurring revenue.”

Our takeaway from the above is that doing solid research and then starting lean with one high-pain, high-promise niche → validating with real travelers → build recurring revenue → scale horizontally into a full journey ecosystem.  A great plan and playbook opens the door to additional investors as needed.

When you’ve got your new business idea established, you’ll need a cost-effective travel marketing strategy to gain visibility and make an impact on your target travel audience. Marketing is so important that failure could jeopardize your investment.  See more on a simple travel marketing playbook, and creating a service plan customized for you.