Is Now the Time to Start a Travel Business? Absolutely!

Admittedly, now may appear to be a poor time to get started in travel. However, with the time set aside to begin proceedings ready for the reviews of restrictions on the 17th of May, 28th of June, 31st of July, and the 1st of October, now is potentially the best opportunity to start a travel business. There’s fresh demand from across the country, people clustering to travel as they’ve been restricted for so long. There’s also the collective paranoia to soothe with trustworthy, consumer-focused businesses who customers can put their confidence in.

“This pandemic has created ground zero,” Bruce Poon said, and in that spirit of rebirth, the chance of taking off from scratch in the travel industry is looking optimistic. In addition, the payoff is more instant than it would have been before, as a result of the uncertainty.

Though it seems like a risky business, even the things that could work against you, such as the restrictions and higher stakes for niche sellers, these things can just as much work in your favour if you work them to the advantage of our situation. It might feel tempting to wait until there is some certainty as to who is on the green list, what the restrictions are, and whether they’re going to be rolled back in the near future. But the next 18 months could be the spike in the travel market that is just what a new start-up business needs to establish its brand in place of those that have fallen victim to the past 12 months. Though there is uncertainty ahead, and a new level of caution across the globe driving many away from the prospect of getting on a plane anytime in the near future, the shared paranoia could actually be to your advantage getting into the travel industry via a trust account.

Building Trust In Your Travel Business

Taking note of the new light on trust accounts in recent history, there is a higher demand for businesses that consumers can put their confidence in. Taking that first step through a trust account, therefore, not only allows you to cater to a consumer’s needs and assure them their money is safe in case of possible changes that force them to cancel their holiday, but it protects you in the case that your business takes a hit during this time of unpredictability. Separating that money and protecting it while the proceedings go ahead ensures that no mistakes or incidents will be coming out of your pocket, and only the money provided for the services involved, will be dealt with.

You can add onto that the whole slew of reimagined experiences being crafted to offer. The new restrictions placed on us, and the subsequent need for escape from becoming homebodies, has pushed us to create new adventures that we would not have suggested before. These experiences aren’t limited to the ‘staycations’ that have risen in popularity. There are cruises setting off around the UK, train ventures across all of the UK, and many more ideas surfacing for safe, COVID friendly ways to get your fix of the world outside our bubble. With this wealth of new ways to explore the places we have access to, now is the best time to get a hand in and develop a niche for forward thinking, low-risk, summer holidays that the consumer can put their confidence in.

Why Start a Travel Business Now?

It’s never been a better time to be a small business. With 96% of all businesses in the UK having less than 10 employees and 99% being SMEs in 2020, it is clear that the consumer is seeking out small but trustworthy businesses that know what they’re doing. Being on the high street is no longer a priority. Not just in the sense of a large company, but with the increased need to work from home for our safety, we’ve never been better equipped to work entirely remotely.

If the coming boon in the desire to travel isn’t quite convincing enough, because of the hit the pre-existing faculties of the industry have suffered, there is ready space for the safe, small businesses that people will be looking to. There are, of course, risks that have become more prominent in this time than they were before. The accessibility to refunds and the ability to move dates is more in demand with such an uncertain future. That alongside a constant need for up to date information in order to keep everyone safe, means it can all feel a bit daunting.

But there is a silver lining. Though becoming more dependent on last minute bookings is a big change from how we’ve operated in the past and could crash if a new wave of covid hits, there is the advantage of more instant gratification. As opposed to taking a deposit for a holiday a year away and waiting for the final pay off, you will be able to cash in on your business much sooner. Not only will that be motivating, but it also sets you up to potentially make good on the expected demand for travel.

Specialisation: Friend or Foe?

The remaining enemy to your start-up could be in specialising. If you were to take an interest in Spain alone, for example, and then down the line the country became red-listed, that could be your downfall. But this is a problem easily avoided. In saying that, there are advantages to specialising in certain ways. If you specialise in a particular service rather than destination, that is something people will want to hunt down as it gives them confidence that you know what you’re doing. This also gives you more flexibility when there’s so much uncertainty around destinations in today’s climate.

If you get started on building your brand before restrictions are revisited, there’s also the freedom to converse with travel service providers who have probably been struggling as of late, and get an early entry into whatever areas of the market you wish. Bruce Poon told Travel Weekly, “As things come to a dead stop, we have this amazing opportunity to rethink everything and reinvent and innovate in every aspect,” and I am inclined to agree. This is the best time to be a new business as the travel industry is affected by a completely new outlook and the market starts up again.

Though times are rapidly changing during this period of high demand for travel PTS has welcomed over 250 members since the beginning of Covid, including trading travel agents, start-ups, home workers, and tour operators. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you to start a travel business, please visit our travel businesses page, or you can contact our friendly team at the address ask@protectedtrustservices.com, or by phone on 0207 190 9988. We look forward to hearing from you.