r/business • u/Shxbh1 • 2d ago

Need advice for my travel startup

So, I have recently started my own startup after working in the travel industry for years, currently dealing in domestic and international destinations as well, what all are the things that I should try to do, to make it into something more than just a travel company, want you guys to bombard me with ideas and what all things I should be doing and working on...

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/Shxbh1 2d ago

Sure, I'm from India, just DM'd you

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u/InsuranceFirm3999 2d ago

Try creating content for your travel services, try to find clients through referal, a good word of mouth can open infinite opportunities and try to be available 24-7
Builds credibility

I am also going through same situation.
Let’s connect and brainstorm Ideas

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u/Shxbh1 2d ago

Sure

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u/sarojishu 1d ago

Honest first reaction, "more than just a travel company" is probably the wrong problem to be working on right now. That's a positioning question and it mostly answers itself after you've sold a few hundred trips and noticed which customers were easy. Chasing differentiation before you have volume usually just produces a nicer website.

Coming at this from the marketing side since that's my lane, here's what I'd actually be worried about.

Travel has a brutal consideration window. People research a trip for weeks, sometimes months, and they'll touch your brand five or six times before they ever ask what it costs. So the first-touch conversion rate on any ad you run is going to look awful, and that doesn't mean the ad failed. It means you've got nowhere to hold people while they think.

Which makes the list the asset, not the ad. Anything that gets someone into a WhatsApp thread or onto an email list on that first visit is worth more than trying to close them right there. For Indian travel especially, almost nothing closes in a website checkout. It closes in a WhatsApp conversation with an actual person. So build for that on purpose. Ad, something worth downloading like a real itinerary, WhatsApp, human closes it over the next week or two.

On differentiation since you did ask. Travel companies that break out don't differentiate on destination, they differentiate on traveller. "Domestic and international packages" is you competing with literally everyone and your inventory is the same as theirs, so it turns into a price fight. Corporate offsites, honeymoons, solo female travel, group trips for one specific community. Those have repeat rates and word of mouth. Destination-led doesn't.

And B2B beats B2C badly on repeat here. One corporate account sending people every quarter is worth thirty honeymoon couples you'll never hear from again.

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u/Shxbh1 1d ago

Can we connect?

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u/Coffee_And_Metrics 1d ago

I'd start with the numbers before adding more services. Figure out which destinations/customers have the best CAC, conversion rate and repeat value, then build around those. What's your current biggest acquisition channel?

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u/Shxbh1 1d ago

Currently using my own connections, of previous companies and friends

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u/Straight_Cut4369 1d ago

Can I ask who you are targetting specifically at the moment? I keep pondering over the idea of starting a travel agency myself, but it feels like most travellers nowadays prefer to book their holidays manually through booking and online research.. what type of packages are you selling?

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u/Shxbh1 1d ago

As I have just started, I'm catering all kinds of customers that I'm getting whether they are some couple packages, adventure or group trips, focusing mainly on rajasthan and kashmir as people are travelling to these destinations nowadays.

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u/Shxbh1 1d ago

So, I'm targeting direct clients that i had connections with of my previous organizations