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Travel Niche - Best Left Alone?

by Liam Hamer
17 replies
I don't see the travel niche mentioned very often among marketers. People are frantically searching for and booking holidays/vacations and hotels online all over the world each and every day. I guess one of the main problems is that travel agents dominate and are hard to compete with, whether it be in the search engines, the professional look of their sites, their functionality, and the multiple ways to contact them(by phone and by physically visiting them).

I am interested in writing about a particular sub niche. I would really enjoy writing about it. But I just wonder if I could make any money as an affiliate in it. Nothing is impossible, of course, but I see all the travel agent sites and feel intimidated. Is the travel niche not particularly 'affiliate friendly', or do I sound defeatist and am actually talking garbage? :confused: :p

Am really interested in any thoughts
#left #niche #travel
  • Profile picture of the author pwtmike
    First you need to find out if there are any products in your niche which you can promote. then if so, and your products have legs, you can build a site out, add tons of original content to it, and start creating some backlinking campaigns. You can make money with any niche, even competitive ones, you just have to have a really well thought out strategy. How are you going to get traffic? How will you monetize it? How will you source good content and engage your visitors?
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    • Profile picture of the author Liam Hamer
      Originally Posted by PWTMike View Post

      First you need to find out if there are any products in your niche which you can promote. then if so, and your products have legs, you can build a site out, add tons of original content to it, and start creating some backlinking campaigns. You can make money with any niche, even competitive ones, you just have to have a really well thought out strategy. How are you going to get traffic? How will you monetize it? How will you source good content and engage your visitors?
      I know there are a few affiliate programs in this sub niche, and even though their commission percentages are small....the actual amounts are very good. My main strategies(in general) are SEO and article marketing. I have done some keyword research and the majority of terms related to it are extremely competitive. Getting my articles syndicated on related sites might be difficult too, because like I said, most of the popular ones are travel agents. I don't know, maybe I'm talking myself out of it. Like you said though, a well thought out strategy is vital, and can bring great results.
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  • Profile picture of the author DudeAndy
    You need to deliver some quality content in the travel niche to actually make it. This means you will have to travel a lot and therefore, I don't think it worth the trouble.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Well written, interesting travel blogs are usually pretty popular. Of course, there are some very big players in the travel niche, but they don't go the travel blogging route usually. If you have something to write about that you are knowledgeable and passionate about, go for it.
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  • Profile picture of the author dejoliet31
    If you are looking to strictly make money from people looking to book travel, you will certainly face stiff competition from travel sites that specialize in booking trips. I would suggest that you expand your thinking to include things travelers want and need, other than booking vacations. So you may want to focus on things people want when they are thinking about and planning vacations, i.e., guides, cautionary ideas, luggage, language translation aids, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author we_got_tops
    I just started a site in the travel niche myself and I was wondering some of the same questions.

    What type of affiliate programs are you looking at? The big travel agencies do rank #1 for tons of relevant keywords that I've found, but many times they don't seem to be using the exact phrase very much. I'm thinking maybe they can be beaten with some work. (of course, we may be looking at very different classes of keyword terms...)
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  • Profile picture of the author 1960Texan
    Originally Posted by Liam Hamer View Post

    I would really enjoy writing about it. But...
    No buts, dive in! Do you enjoy it enough to write compelling, knowledgeable articles? Then go for it. I sometimes wonder if we, as Internet marketers, spend too much of our time on projects that will give us more immediate returns on our efforts at the expense of our future success and happiness.

    The travel niche will always be competitive, and maybe it will take you a few years to see any significant financial rewards from all of your hard work. So what? Do something else for short-term gain, while setting aside at least a few hours per week on this topic that you enjoy.

    Will
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  • Profile picture of the author Emotia
    A friend of mine is in the travel niche and he makes money with it through word of mouth and loyal customers.
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    • Profile picture of the author bifulcor
      Guys, I have over 17 years of experience doing IM in the travel sector so happy to answer your ??

      Yes the travel niche is very competitive with big Coke type companies spending tons of money on IM and SEO and more importantly real content rather than just SEO type quick factory articles. Also keep in mind in UK yes travel agents control things. In cruise sector same thing. But in USA travel agents are mostly going out of business because they cannot compete and refuse to learn. The smart ones are very focused on honeymoons etc. so they do ok if they are good. But there are many other players in this space to be aware of.

      Hope that helps. I am actually launching a new private travel club offering huge discounts on holidays, vacation homes and cruises and more. Plus we have tied in a business opp. Let me know if anyone wants to learn more. Thx, Ryan
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Vraibel
    It's tough for me to comment on without knowing the particular sub-niche but if you set out a well thought out plan and do your research you can compete in any niche.

    I for sure wouldn't want to compete with the likes of Expedia, Orbitz etc. But as far as I know those businesses are only booking flights/cars/hotels and whatnot. Think about what travelers want/need (sight seeing reviews and the likes) and deliver those. Maybe you could interview some locals at the most popular destinations and take it from there.

    Unless you are looking to get involved in customers booking flights through you, I don't see why you wouldn't give it a shot especially if it's something that you are passionate about.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sue Bruce
      I have a friend who sells golf vacations and is very successful. A plus is the vacations that he writes off. He just returned from Myrtle Beach SC and willl be spending New Years in Mexico.
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  • Profile picture of the author HazeBlazer
    The travel niche is very nice, I haven't started a site in that niche yet but I am about to. Travel agents really only provide great deals on booking flights hotels etc... They won in finding good deals for the consumer, but like others said, you could do a blog form of a website, like writing about the best places to visit in a certain country, best ways to get around with transportation, etc... people are hungry for this information, you could write an e-book and sell it, put up adsense, etc...
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Vraibel
    To add to my point, should you start an info site with travel recommendations you could always work with those booking agents instead of competing with them and use their affiliate programs to add another income stream to your arsenal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Targeted Traffic
    Usually popular travel blogs are made from those who did actually travel...who experienced the sights and sounds first hand...but hey...if you could cook up a amazingly informative and edgy content...go for it
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  • Profile picture of the author Vikuna2009+
    http://anguilla-beaches.com

    is a site that belongs to Nori, Ken Evoy's daughter. She built it with Site Built It with the help of her father. I read her whole story a couple of years ago, don't remember where but at the time she was 13 years old and only allowed an hour a week on it. She was making around $7,000 a month!

    Study her site and get as much out of it as possible. Good luck, Eva
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  • Profile picture of the author vivi62
    Hi
    The travel Niche has taken a bit of a battering lately due to the economic climate , the most money is to be made from holidays in your own country rather than abroad as the market for holidays in your own country is growing.
    Regards
    vivi62
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  • Profile picture of the author JackWitson
    Surely almost every site is full of agents and the real content have lost in between this.Thanks for this very interesting article.
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