As most of the world has opened up and continues to open, travelers are eager to explore our beautiful countries.

But what do you do if you run a travel business? How do you adapt your business to work well in a post-pandemic world?

This detailed guide will show you how to emerge as one of the best travel brands in the post-pandemic world.

Here's what you need to know:

Get Extra Funding

The first thing you need to do is consider applying for travel merchant accounts.

Due to the pandemic, your travel company probably took a massive hit over the past few years. If you get travel merchant accounts, it can help you receive high-risk payments.

Make sure you also clear your debts before relaunching your business. You want to get off to a fresh start.

Create More Content

The following strategy is to create more content to promote your travel agency. As the world opens up, you must compete for more than ever with other travel companies.

You'll have to find a way to stand out, which comes from creating content. You should make blog posts, videos, podcasts, and email newsletters among the content you can create.

One of the ways to stand out is to discuss topics pertinent to the traveler in the post-pandemic world. This can include the following:
  • COVID restrictions (if any) in each country
  • How each country reacted to the pandemic
  • Some travelers prefer to visit countries with strict rules, while others prefer to visit countries with fewer restrictions.
  • Best places for digital nomads
  • Best places for relocation
  • Cheap budget locations
  • Luxury locations
You want to be able to reach out to as broad an audience as possible. Make sure you create detailed reports to provide your audience with. The more you research and create content, the more authority you establish in your niche.

Sustainable Travel

While humans will always thirst to travel the world, many are concerned about whether traveling harms the environment.

Regardless of your own views, you must find a way to encourage sustainable travel. For example, you must offer different travel routes for your clients.

Someone might wish to fly from Belgrade to Skopje. After all, the flight is just over an hour long and is relatively affordable. But is it the most sustainable option?

You can encourage them to take the bus instead. While this is a longer route, it's a lot more sustainable. This also allows them to enjoy the countryside of Serbia and North Macedonia en route.

Encourage Pre-Checking for Security

Another way to make your travel company stick out is to offer advice on pre-checking for security.

One of the most annoying aspects of air travel is going through security. At least in the United States, there are options to get approved for TSA pre-checks.

Make sure you offer your clients tutorials on how to do this. You must keep abreast of the latest laws at all times. Show your clients how to minimize the hassle of going through security at the airport.

Private Air Travel

To reach high-end clients, you must help them travel via private jets. While this is comfortable, it's also great for any traveler who wants to minimize the risk of catching COVID.

You want to educate them about the different ways to travel via private jet. Ensure they know how to buy a private jet or charter one.

If they choose the former, you want to find a way to broker deals to help them buy their dream jet. If they wish to charter a jet, you should help them book their tickets.

Recommend Travel Options to Clients

This goes back to the earlier suggestion of creating content. As global citizens, we are now more aware of different cultures and countries. But with so many exciting options, we might need to figure out where to travel.

For example, someone wants to enjoy a lovely beach holiday. They might be split among Bali, Cancun, and Marbella.

You'll need to provide expert advice to travelers. If they call your travel agency, you should be able to tell them within 5-10 minutes about the differences between these locations. By the end of their call, they should know which location works best for their needs.

More and more, travel agencies will have to adapt to relocation agencies. For example, entrepreneur Pieter Levels created NomadList. This is a website intended for digital nomad travelers.

However, as a spinoff, he created Rebase, which helped remote workers relocate to Portugal. After moving to Portugal, Pieter realized it was an excellent location for remote workers. He began helping remote workers apply for residency there.

You have to think ahead and offer such a service to your clients. Your client who wishes to travel to Bali today might want to move there tomorrow.

Offer Services to Travelers

You want to offer travelers services that'll improve their experience. If you can't provide the services yourself, consider offering discounts to third-party services.

For example, you might offer your clients a discounted travel insurance policy.

Or you might give them materials to learn a new language. You can decide whether to offer services, create content, or partner with existing brands.

Travel agencies are still important businesses in the tourism industry. But the fact remains that a lot of what they offer becomes irrelevant. For instance, all of us can book tickets online today.

As a result, you want to offer services that the average person needs help with.

Or, you must build unique connections with travel companies. You want to offer special packages that no one can book online.

For example, you should build relationships with certain airlines. These airlines will offer discounts to your clients.

Your clients can only receive these discounts if they book with you. They won't be able to receive these discounts if they book tickets through another party.

This is when you research your competition to see how to triumph over them. Find a way to differentiate your travel company by offering what other agencies don't.

Have a Face Out There

The travel companies of the future will not only have a recognizable logo but also a known face. If you have a sunny personality, you can become the face. If you need to, hire a professional spokesperson who'll stick with your brand for several years.

Take a moment to look at the successful newcomers in the travel industry. They all have a face or a strong persona that makes them enduring.

For My Latin Life, you've got the persona of Vance, who encourages Westerners looking to travel or relocate to Latin America.

Kristin Wilson is also a travel and relocation expert. She has a sweet personality and a friendly approach to anyone exploring Latin America, Europe, or Asia.

Andrew Henderson of Nomad Capitalist is an expert on almost anywhere in the world. If you're interested in luxury travel and high net-worth migration, you can't beat his expertise.

The list goes on. You want to research these personalities to see how you can emulate them for your travel company. With so many travel companies, the average traveler has become more discerning.

There's also a growing frustration that corporate brands must be more generic and helpful. This creates excellent opportunities for independent travel brands such as yours.

But the only way to stand out with travel marketing is if a familiar face is associated with a travel company.

Work With Influencers

Now let's return to creating content for travel marketing. This also follows along with the previous section.

You want to build connections with influencers in the travel industry. They're perfect for helping make your reputation. For example, suppose your travel agency offers package deals to travel to Belize.

Consider hiring influencers who will travel or have traveled to Belize. They'll promote Belize and then mention how your brand will help travelers enjoy the location.

You can use these influencers for written and video content. They're also great for social media, especially Instagram.

Let's give a few examples. You can have one influencer make a video where he discusses the location and your brand. Another famous travel influencer can take perfect Instagram photos of the location and mention your brand in the caption.

A third influencer could write a blog post promoting your brand. This blog post can get hosted on one of her websites. Or she can write a guest post for your website.

This is an example of how you can reach out to travel influencers to help them grow your brand. However, make sure you first grow your follower count and website traffic. You must establish a reputation in the travel industry before contacting influencers.

Discuss Travel Issues

This is tied to sustainable travel. You must discuss the various issues related to travel. In the post-pandemic world, many travelers are eager to travel but are also on guard.

For example, discuss countries that might need better health infrastructure. If you can speak from personal experience or hire someone who can, this is always the best option.

Travelers want to know what risks they'll take if they get ill abroad. You should still discuss what COVID services are available abroad for travelers. These can include where a traveler can get tested or receive health treatment.

Make sure you also discuss the safety of a particular country. For example, are there countries that aren't the safest for women? Are there places that aren't friendly to LGBT travelers? What about countries that might discriminate against certain races, ethnicities, nationalities, or religions?

These are all concerns that travelers have when they wish to visit or relocate to a new country. If you can share anecdotes, you'll give them the best picture of a nation.

Discuss Responsible Traveling

The final step is to discuss responsible traveling with your clients. This establishes your travel company as being responsible and ethical. In the long run, this will cause your travel agency to outlive your competition.

For example, many countries have lost social cohesion due to mass tourism and migration. You'll hear these complaints in London, Paris, or Malmo.

You want to educate your clients on respecting the locals when they travel to such places.

In other places such as Mexico City, Lisbon, and Tbilisi, prices have gone up for the locals due to tourism and migration.

This has caused neighborhoods to get gentrified. Ensure you educate your clients on how they can support the local economy without being seen as a burden.

Likewise, telling your clients about the local customs in each location is essential. Travel gives us a chance to experience other cultures. But we must be careful not to be seen as colonizers rather than explorers.

Let them know that they should dress modestly when visiting the UAE. Let them know to respect the Dharmic traditions when visiting India. Understand that the Japanese like politeness and order, while Balkan people want you to be friendly and vivacious!

If you follow the steps in this guide, you'll have no problem adapting your travel business to the post-pandemic world.

Build Your Travel Business

Now you know how to build your travel business as the pandemic ends.

Start by focusing on getting extra funding. Sign up for a merchant account so you can deal with high-risk transactions. Take time to be fiscally responsible so your business doesn't go bust.

You should create more content and work with influencers for marketing. You want to discuss travel tips, safety, and how to show respect to different locations. Make your travel business as versatile as possible.

If you're ready to explore, first wade through our other travel content on our website!