The One About Woodworking Tours... Wait, What?
Hello WorldVia Travel Network Family,
My dad and I are hobbyist woodworkers. We are not especially good at it, but we enjoy it, and we have accumulated enough tools, jigs, gizmos, and sawdust to justify calling it a hobby rather than a problem.
Last night I was over to his house for dinner and I spotted a woodworking magazine on his kitchen counter. As I flipped through, I came across two different full-page ads for woodworking-themed tours. You read that right. The ads were promoting two different defined date itineraries to Europe built around woodworking, including museums, landmarks, speakers, and more. The price tag: $7,000 per person for a week, not including airfare.
My first thought was "who is paying seven grand to watch someone use a lathe in Norway?" My second thought, about three seconds later, was "someone who loves woodworking enough to subscribe to this magazine, that's who." And it reminded me exactly why I’ve preached the benefits of a well-defined niche for so many years.
There are indeed riches in the niches.
Why This Matters Right Now
Those who’ve been around here a while know that I am a huge believer in developing a refined niche over time, and the market data this summer is proving the point in real time.
GetYourGuide just published data showing that searches for lakes, mountains, and national parks are up 65%. Google says "slow travel" searches have hit an all-time high. The average summer trip cost is up 24% to $9,668. Clients are spending more, but they are going deeper into fewer places instead of trying to check five cities off a list in ten days.
That is a fundamental shift in what travelers want, and it plays directly into the hands of advisors who have built deep expertise in a specific destination, experience type, or traveler profile.
The Niche Advantage
Think about that woodworking travel company for a minute. They are not competing with Expedia. They are not competing for eyeballs with Google Flights. They are competing with precisely, well, likely nobody, because I’m not sure if anyone else has built an itinerary around Alpine timber mills and antique hand planes. Their clients found them through a woodworking magazine, which means their marketing cost is a fraction of what a generalist spends on broad digital ads. And they are charging $7,000 a person for a week, because when you are the only one who does what you do, you get to set the price.
That same dynamic is available to every travel advisor operating their business.
Maybe your niche is multi-generational family travel to Italy, where you know every agriturismo in Puglia that has a kids' cooking class and a pool. Maybe it is honeymoon travel to Southeast Asia, where you have personally walked the grounds of dozens of resorts and know which ones are worth the upgrade. The examples go on and on. Let this example demonstrate that if you think your defined niche is too small, then you may want to check your thinking. The better question is whether you’ve given your ultra-refined niche enough time to build a clientele.
You may need to start broad, but if you keep pushing to attract clients in your target niche, slowly, month by month, you’ll get to where you want to be.
Niche Selection Process
If you already have a niche, this week is a good time to sharpen it. If you have been meaning to develop one, this week is a good time to start.
The Bigger Picture
The travel industry is moving toward depth. Clients are choosing fewer destinations and spending more time (and money) in each one. They want someone who knows the back roads.
That is advisor work. That is what advisors do better than any algorithm or search engine. And the more specific your knowledge, the harder it is for anyone to replicate what you offer.
Woodworking tours. Seven thousand dollars a person before air. There are riches in the niches and the question is whether you are going deep enough to find yours.
Best Success,
Jason
P.S. If you are working on defining or refining your niche and want my take, drop me a line at jblock@worldvia.com. I always enjoy hearing what you are building. Have a question you want me to address in an upcoming message? Please email me.
Next week, from an advisor question I received, I’ll answer: What's your best advice on securing your first client?
Oh, that’s a good one!