How to Optimize Your Travel Business Strategies to Stimulate Growth

What defines “good business?” Upon first thought, it's easy to treat all business as "good business," but the reality is that some clients and some types of work are far more valuable to a travel business than others, both in profit and in the energy they give (or take in some cases). 

Here’s a quick, practical experiment that can reshape your business: study your top five or 10 clients, learn exactly why they’re so profitable for you, then do more of those things and less of everything else.  

Your goal is to identify your most successful, profitable bookings, understand the patterns behind them, and use that data to build a clearer, more profitable plan.  

Step 1: Identify Your "Top Clients" (The Right Way) 

Your "Top Clients" are the five to 10 people who drive the largest average annual profit to your business over the last three years. (If you're a newer advisor, just use the last year.)  

Why profit, not revenue? A $25,000 custom FIT booking that takes 40 hours of time is a lot less profitable than a $15,000 luxury cruise that takes five hours. We must factor in the most valuable asset: your time.  

If you don't already track these types of metrics, don't get stuck. We just need to be directionally correct.  

• Look at your bookings and group them by client.  

• Estimate the time you spent on each trip type. (e.g., All-inclusive repeat: X hours. Custom FIT, new client: Y hours. Luxury cruise, repeat: Z hours; fill in values based on historical experience).  

• A client with $5,000 in commission that took just five hours probably is a "top client." A client with $6,000 in commission that took 30 hours probably is not.  

Your task: Block 60 minutes. Pull your client list. Rank your top five to 10 by estimated profit.  

Step 2: Ask Sharp Questions About the Winners 

Now that you have your list, look for the common threads. The answers are your roadmap.  

• What are customers buying? (Which products, suppliers, destinations, and travel styles show up most?)  

• How did they find me? (Be specific: referral from whom—Google, a social media post, a local event?)  

• What upsells did they happily accept? (Insurance, private transfers, pre/post-stays, upgraded air, tours?)  

• What was the "work experience" like? (Are they decisive and respectful of your time, or high-drama and a time sucker?)  

• Do they pay planning fees without hesitation?  

• Which of their trips lit you up with energy, and which felt heavy?
  
  

Step 3: Turn Insights into Simple Rules 

This is where data becomes decision. Your goal isn't to produce a complex report; it's to have a short, powerful list of what to do next.  

Create three simple lists. The ideas below are just EXAMPLES. Draw your own conclusions from what your customers’ actions are saying.  

1. Do MORE of:

Identify a few patterns you can deliberately replicate. 

• Example: "Marketing luxury river cruises, as five of my top 10 clients booked one."  

• Example: "Asking for referrals from my best clients, as that's how eight of them found me."  

• Example: "Quoting insurance and private transfers on every single proposal."  

2. Do LESS of:

Name two to three patterns you can trim, control, or stop. 

• Example: "Accepting no-fee complex FITs for non-referrals."  

• Example: "Spending time on low-margin, high-time-suck suppliers."  

• Example: "Chasing leads that don't fit my 'top client' profile."  

3. CHANGE my rules:

List one or two policies you can implement to protect your profit. 

• Example: "Raise my floor: Use the lowest profit among my top 10 as my new minimum target for taking on new work."  

• Example: "Tighten my scope: All proposals now include one refresh, then a paid redesign fee applies."  

• Example: "Add a rush fee for all travel requests inside 60 days."  

When applying these strategies, you won't need to change your entire business. In fact, you shouldn’t. It will likely cause more problems, and you won’t be able to tell what’s working. Just pick a few of the ideas from your lists and implement them. Don’t worry about some complicated implementation plan. Just do it.   

When you’re a travel advisor, your top clients are already showing you what your most profitable, enjoyable business looks like. Listen closely, and then re-engineer your process around them. 

Best success, 

Jason

P.S. — What was the no. 1 "a-ha" moment you had after looking at your top clients? I'd love to hear what you discovered. Send me a note at jblock@worldvia.com.