Have you ever wanted to start a travel-related business?
If you are into travel and love the idea of mixing with people, you must check this list of the most profitable tourism startup business ideas for 2022 and beyond.
According to TripAdvisor, there has been an almost 80% rise in travel activities. So this is something you want to check out and take advantage of this amazing opportunity.
In post COVID era, there’s such a thriving market now for travel with the global economy getting better and more people are now looking to spend on travel after a two-year halt.
So let’s go ahead and get into these different travel business ideas that you can start in the travel industry.
Airbnb Business
Airbnb is all about renting out your spare room, apartment, home, or farmhouse.
The right size of the property in the right neighbourhood is the key to getting your income flowing from the Airbnb business.
If you can find a neighbourhood where the demand is greater than the current supply, you are in it to win it!
Covid19 has affected a lot of businesses but what you should know about COVID-19 is that it has been great for Airbnb hosts and bad for hotels.
The sentiments around travel have changed. It has not taken away the want or need to travel just how people are choosing to.
So there are a lot more regional vacations, a lot more staycations going on, and a lot more work remote monthly stays.
And more people now prefer to stay in a home or apartment instead of being crammed into a hotel.
So this is great for setting up your Airbnb business.
The Airbnb Playbook: Your complete guide to starting and managing a profitable Airbnb business
Airbnb Entrepreneur: Become the Best Listing in Town!
Discover how to build your own Airbnb business without owning any property.
Glamping Business
This is the hottest business from the year 2020 onwards.
As glamping continues to blow up and more people are getting interested, this is certainly a travel business category that you can focus on.
Glamping just didn’t come out of anywhere, but the COVID situation triggered the demand for it, and it’s extremely bullish from thereon.
The search for “glamping” has exploded in the last couple of years.
The general curiosity of travellers about unique stays is higher than ever before.
They are looking for unique experiences and can spend a lot more than we could think.
Hence Glamping is just another option and is ready to blow up.
Airbnb is also pushing up the glamping sites and marketing them to a huge reach and customer base.
Top 8 Glamping ideas for beginner’s in 2022
The ultimate glamping business startup guide
Glamping as a business: How to own and run your glampsite
How to start a glamping business without even owning a land
Travel Photography
Now there are a lot of websites, blogs, videos, and ebooks out there that are just telling you half of the truth about travel photography.
There are no real answers to how you could start travelling the world and getting paid to do it.
Certainly, it can be the most sought-after and fancy career option in the travel industry, but the reality is far from reach.
If you love travel photography you might have done hundreds of google searches about “how to become a travel photographer”? and “how to shoot for travel magazines?
But let me tell you, there’s almost zero percent chance of national geographic or any other travel magazine is knocking on either of your doors anytime soon and sending us on an amazing vacation.
Now be a little patient and opt for something original that might teach you throughout the process.
Photography is an art, and you must master the skill to get your dollars flowing.
You need not be stuck in a particular segment and there are a lot of options this digital world has for travel photographers.
Editorials, commercials, assignments, Stock photography, social media, vlogs, blogs, affiliates, and a lot more options are there for travel photographers these days to get their way out of the crowd.
Make money with your travel photography
Travel Photography: Take Beautiful Photos on Your Adventures
How to get paid to travel with zero followers
Private Jet charter OR Helicopter Tour Business
Pilgrimages, sightseeing, search/rescue, aerial filming, luxury transportation services, and medical emergencies are some of the reasons that private jets or helicopters exist.
The more practical advice on this type of business is that it’s not a wise move to buy a helicopter unless you have that much disposable income.
You must be in a position where you can buy the aircraft and it doesn’t hurt you that much.
Insurance and maintenance costs are pretty much on the higher side.
But what you need most is your determination and passion to run this kind of business.
There are very few who have looked at this opportunity and made fortunes out of this even without no money in their hands.
Yes, you read this right!
Even without no money they bought helicopters and did something 95% population in the world can’t even dream of.
Kanika Tekriwal’s inspiring journey to be an entrepreneur through JetSetGo
How to start a helicopter tour business?
Remote Travel Agent
How to be a travel agent in today’s market and enjoy the perks while working from home or anywhere in the world?
This may be right for you if you are interested in what the travel industry has to offer and you want to enjoy life more and start travelling.
From being a fresher in the industry to an established travel agent, you can take advantage of the perks of various remote opportunities that were just not available pre-COVID.
Either you can become a home-based independent travel agent or work for the leading travel organizations worldwide.
Ayurveda Tourism
There is a huge shift in medical tourism in recent years, which is Ayurveda Tourism.
A focus on wellness tourism is seen everywhere and knocks out a lot of opportunities in the ancient way of lifestyle.
People are now more aware of what Ayurveda is and are researching Indian alternate medicines.
According to recent data, more than 90,000 people travelled to India for wellness treatment and Ayurveda played the biggest role among them.
Medical and wellness tourism – consultancy, guides, and training
Ayurveda, wellness tourism to be in high demand: The Hindu
Wellness Retreat
Running a wellness retreat is a satisfying and rewarding experience.
And there are certain things that you can do to make sure that you deliver high value to participants.
If you want to run a wellness retreat then chances are you’re someone who wants to create transformation in people’s lives.
And what that takes then is to address a lot of different aspects of their lives.
The biggest mistake people make while designing their wellness retreats is to get the fanciest, most expensive, and most luxurious place that they can find.
Now the problem with this is that it can end up eating your profits.
Unless you are working with a super high-end luxurious audience, make sure that the retreats are accessible and the people you want to serve can buy them and can afford them.
Get creative with your venues, instead of finding 5-star services, you can rent an Airbnb, beach house, or a houseboat.
Teach your clients something new and you are good to go in this business.
How to start a corporate retreat centre
Get tips so you can host your retreat
Self-love, meditation, wellness, and yoga retreat
Wellness retreat – A guide to holistic health practices
Instagram Worthy photos rooms and experiences
A business to encash the selfie and Instagram trend!
Yes, this is an offbeat business idea which can be worth every penny spent.
But the only condition is to bring a lot of creativity to designing your Instagram studio.
Instagram rooms are specifically designed where one can come and take Instagram-worthy photos in front of different backgrounds.
There you can take as many photos as you want with different outfits and angles.
UK’s first Instagram-inspired interactive pop-up experience for selfie-taking
Campervan/Caravan Rental Business or Tours
The popularity of campervan or caravan tourism boomed because of COVID-19 owing to the freedom and flexibility it offers.
There are immense opportunities in this business which can range from the club on wheels, rentals, pop-up cafes, and glamping to dealership and conversion.
Caravans are now becoming increasingly luxurious and serving as a proper alternative for hotels for backpackers, friends, and even families.
A campervan offers great flexibility to one’s tour and is gaining immense popularity among adventure junkies.
This is the perfect timing to encash this business.
Caravan Tourism: Gear up for the future
How to convert a campervan (Complete course 2022)
Road trips just got better with “trippy wheels” A Bengaluru based company
Offbeat Tour Host
If you are a great storyteller, have exceptional conversational skills, and know every detail of what you are going to show to your guests, then the tour guiding business will be the most successful bet for your life.
Be it a food tour, heritage walk, wine tour, agro tour, eco tour, haunted tour, or any slum tour, there are multiple ways you can show what you know the most according to the tourists’ demand.
You just need to figure out what works best.
Do you enjoy walking tours or private tours? Do you enjoy serving the backpackers or the families instead?
And most importantly, you must be in love with the place you are showing off and it will eventually pay you with big results.
Extraordinary storytelling – A Cheatsheet for Tour and Activity Operators
How to be a tour guide in your hometown overnight
Online training for guides and tour businesses
How to get a job as a tour guide?
Local Travel blogging
I know you are probably thinking of another travel blog!
Yeah, there are a lot of travel blogs out there but this one is a more regionally focused blog where you will be sounding like a specialist who talks specifically about a particular region.
It could be all about posting about events going on, restaurants, or whatever is happening in your city or region.
There are a lot of ways to promote and monetize your local blog such as:
- Affiliate marketing
- Directory of local tours (charge fees for listing)
- Brand Mentions
- Ad networks such as mediavine
- Promoting your own travel business via blog visitors
- Partnerships with local tour operators
- Private display ads
Superstar blogging: Master the skills you need to succeed in today’s online environment
Blogging For Beginners – How to Start a Blog & Make Money
Curious about how to become a travel blogger and make money?
Laundromat
Starting and operating a laundromat business has caught the attention of many, many entrepreneurs in recent years.
The biggest advantage of being a laundromat owner is the steady cash flow and being a really simple business.
Though it takes a lot of initial investments to get started with this business, once you get set up, the returns can be pretty on the higher side.
In short, a laundromat can be a great way of creating additional passive income.
How to start a $24k per month Laundromat business
Laundromat ownership step by step
Mobile Luggage Storage Business
Luggage storage centres offer a secure place to drop your bags so you can lose the extra weight and carry on without the carry-on.
Let’s say you’re staying at an Airbnb that has a late morning checkout but your flights are not until that night or the opposite you have landed at 8 am but you can’t check in until 2 pm.
You can’t just carry your suitcase with you till that time or even not allowed in some cases.
Luggage storage is a popular option in almost every metropolitan area.
Companies like Lugsto, vertoe and stasher have made fortunes out of this business model.
But what’s the latest trend that will differentiate you from the rest?
The ongoing trend is pickup and drop-off luggage services.
Rather than you bringing your luggage to a facility, the companies are picking up your luggage and dropping it off at the location where you want it to be.
Lyft driver bags luggage storage hustle for tourists
Enjoy your first and last hours in the city, without luggage
Travel Rewards App
This is some sort of technical business that can earn you fortunes.
Basically, the travel rewards can be linked to anything such as incentive management, tracking loyalty points, miles, and business expenses.
There are companies like Travel Bank, Travel freely, Card Curator, Award Wallet, and Hytch rewards that have made this business idea possible and financially successful.
Running a rewards program, especially for a business traveller is something a lot of corporates would be interested in.
This app rewards you for making cheaper business travel purchases.
Green travel rewards app Miles raises $12.5 Million
Virtual Events Planner
The events industry has been shaken to its core.
COVID has shifted the trend to virtual events and this trend is likely to stay forever now.
Much like the venue you need for in-person events, the platform is the place where you, attendees, speakers, sponsors, and entertainment will connect.
It’s a place where everyone gathers and just like the venue, there are dozens of platforms available in the market.
But the platform is only part of the experience, there is the requirement of virtual event production companies who knows the ins and outs of virtual events.
The virtual events production companies help in choosing the right platform, training speakers, ensuring light and sounds, live streaming quality, and other entertainment requirements.
How to plan a virtual event and reach your audience online
Free Virtual and Hybrid events training
Wellness Tourism
Wellness tourism has become a real global phenomenon over the last few years.
For some people, wellness tourism is all about Yoga or centring mindfulness, while for other people, it is even taking a nature walk, relaxing on the beachside, or even eating healthy.
People now value their free time and therefore they want to have something that is going to give something back to them and that’s where the term wellness tourism comes in.
Trends like yoga and meditation space at airport lounges, in-flight wellness, high-tech wellness services at health resorts, the growing vegans’ community, and new forms of meditation techniques and yoga can be seen everywhere.
You can just encash this ever-growing demand and design wellness trips for your prospective clients.
Wellness tourism market size to surpass US$ 1672.6 Bn by 2030
The good, bad, and ugly of the billion-dollar wellness tourism industry
Successful companies in this segment:
Pravassa
Health & Fitness Travel
Vacayou
Social Media Travel Influencer
An influencer is essentially somebody who has a following on the internet that they have influence over.
You would need to figure out which platforms you want to choose, how to optimize, how to speak to your audience, and how to connect with people.
Influencers have a genuine voice because they have a connection with people, and the brands recognise that proactively.
A travel influencer is a niche where someone makes content, videos, and posts around their travel experiences and endorses products and services related to the travel industry.
Hotels, resorts, airlines, tour companies, bags brands, clothing brands, and many other ancillary companies love to work with travel influencers to market their products and services.
So how can you become a travel influencer?
It’s not that complicated, at least.
Be unique, be consistent, be proactive, and keep on trying and learning.
You might not be able to get paid right away because you need to build up long momentum.
The other aspect is that you might be good at producing content but you need to be great at marketing too.
To succeed, you have to reach out to other relevant blogs or websites, mail to people who might be interested in your content, connect with other influences, and so on.
Become a world-class content creator and make money from anywhere
Travel creator academy: Get paid to travel the world
The Complete Instagram Marketing Masterclass
Travel Vlogging
Thanks to the internet and social media, it has become easier than ever to make money online.
Travel vlogging is just not about travelling to faraway places, and creating content around that.
You can be a local or regional vlogger too.
But the only condition is that your intentions have to be in the right place. If you are only thinking that starting a travel vlog will make you travel free of cost and tons of money, then surely travel vlogging is not for you.
There is a lot of work process that includes planning, filming, editing, and marketing effectively.
And you won’t be paid for that, but if you enjoy your work then it won’t be hurting you that much.
How to Vlog: Complete Beginner’s course
Destination wedding planner
From close-knit and contemporary destination weddings to big fat Indian weddings, there are thousands of people tying knots every single day.
Ceremonies could last anywhere from around a day to as long as five days with hosts having a variety of budgets they want to spend for their special occasion.
If you get the opportunity to organise a full-stack wedding, then you have to look upon arrangements like decoration, catering, clothes selection, travel bookings, pickups and drops, venue selection, dance choreographer, music, makeup artist and so on.
For people who are just starting their event planner journey can have freelancers on their team list instead of hiring full-time employees.
Prior experience, good networking and marketing skills can get you to kickstart your entrepreneurial journey in this particular segment.
Wedding planner MBA: the complete how to start 4-in-1 course
Travel Affiliate Websites
People spend a lot of money on travel.
There’s so much money in travel and you can be a part of it as a marketer which is exciting.
Some big travel companies are simply affiliated marketers such as hotels.com, expedia.com, kayak, and many more.
All these are simply affiliates which is kind of surprising!
Expedia doesn’t own any planes, it just connects customers with airlines and makes a commission as an affiliate.
The same happens in the case of Hotels.com, they don’t own any hotel, they just simply connect people to hotels and make commissions out of it.
There are some really big affiliate marketing companies in the travel space.
If you want to get started as an affiliate you can just signup from a list of companies and start promoting their services through your content, marketing, and audience.
You must have some blog, website, or social media channel to promote the services of others.
The top 7 best travel affiliate programs to kick start your travel business
Travel affiliate business for passive income
Boost travel affiliate revenue using SEO
