Small but Mighty: Why Independent Travel Businesses Have a Bigger Advantage Than Ever
LinkedIn Live – Tour Pro Talk featuring Rokitplace Managing Director, Riva Bacquet
Independent travel businesses are having a moment.
As travelers move away from generic, one-size-fits-all experiences, there’s growing demand for advisors, creators, and niche travel entrepreneurs who offer something more personal, more authentic, and more specialized.
In a recent episode of Tour Pro Talk, hosted by copywriter and travel marketing coach Genevieve White, Rokitplace Managing Director Riva Bacquet joined the conversation to discuss why being “small” in travel is no longer a disadvantage, and how independent travel professionals can use it as their greatest strength.
The shift toward smaller, more personal travel brands
When asked when she stopped seeing “small” as a limitation and started seeing it as an advantage, Riva explained that consumer behavior has changed dramatically over the past several years.
Travelers are no longer just checking destinations off a bucket list. They’re looking for experiences that feel meaningful, personal, and transformative. And increasingly, they want guidance from someone who truly understands them.
“People are looking to connect with someone that truly understands them — someone who is a real expert in what they are interested in.” — Riva Bacquet
That shift has created a huge opportunity for smaller travel businesses and independent advisors. Travelers are becoming more skeptical of large, impersonal companies and are instead gravitating toward niche experts with authentic firsthand experience and strong personal brands.
As Riva pointed out, trust today isn’t built through a massive corporate presence or a “big fancy billboard.” It’s built through expertise, sincerity, consistency, and community.
Specialized travel experiences help advisors build deeper connections with the right audience.
One of the biggest advantages smaller travel businesses have is the ability to specialize.
Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, successful independent advisors are building loyal audiences around highly specific interests and traveler types.
Riva shared examples of how niche travel has evolved far beyond broad categories:
Women’s travel
Solo women’s travel
Luxury adventure travel
Wellness retreats
Fashion-focused itineraries
Pre- and post-cruise experiences
Family travel for specific demographics
The more targeted the niche, the more connected and loyal the audience often becomes.
“You’re going to be more authentic, more convincing, and more of an expert if you’re leaning into a niche that you know deeply and genuinely connect with.” — Riva Bacquet
Rather than competing with larger companies on volume, smaller businesses can win through expertise, personality, and specialization.
Building a loyal audience through personalization
A recurring theme throughout the conversation was emotional loyalty.
For independent travel businesses, success often comes from creating relationships that go beyond transactions. Travelers become invested in the advisor, the brand, and the experience itself.
That loyalty grows through thoughtful personalization:
Remembering past conversations
Referencing prior trips
Tailoring communication to the individual
Creating highly customized experiences
Maintaining authentic engagement over time
When travelers feel genuinely seen and understood, referrals grow naturally, and repeat business becomes significantly stronger.
But personalization also creates a challenge: time.
The importance of systems and infrastructure
Rokit gives travel professionals the systems and infrastructure needed to streamline operations and scale more efficiently.
One of the biggest pain points for growing travel businesses is balancing personal service with operational complexity.
Riva emphasized that maintaining a high-touch client experience requires strong systems behind the scenes.
“Anything that is done repeatedly, you need to take a look at and figure out how to automate or systemize.” — Riva Bacquet
That philosophy is what ultimately inspired Rokitplace.
After spending 15 years helping scale SA Expeditions from a small travel business into a larger operation, Riva saw firsthand how difficult it can be to maintain the personal touches that make independent brands special while also managing increasing operational demands.
The solution wasn’t removing the human element — it was building infrastructure that supports it.
Rokitplace was designed to give independent travel advisors and niche travel entrepreneurs access to powerful operational systems while allowing them to remain fully client-facing and brand-forward.
The goal is simple:
Systemize the backend
Preserve the personalization
Free up time for relationships, creativity, and trip design
Because ultimately, the admin work is often what prevents small businesses from scaling sustainably.
Growing organically before investing heavily in advertising
Building your brand organically creates trust, connection, and momentum before scaling with ads.
The conversation also touched on audience growth and marketing.
For smaller businesses without large advertising budgets, Riva recommended focusing first on authentic content and relationship-building:
Build an email list
Stay in touch with past travelers
Share meaningful stories and experiences
Repurpose content for social media
Stay consistently visible
Email marketing, in particular, remains one of the most powerful tools for independent travel businesses because it keeps brands top-of-mind while nurturing existing relationships.
Once a business has a clearer audience and stronger foundation, paid advertising can become more effective — especially when targeting lookalike audiences based on existing client lists.
The mindset shift independent advisors need
One of the most important parts of the conversation centered around confidence.
Many independent travel advisors struggle with:
Pricing
Following up with leads
Positioning themselves as experts
Charging appropriately for their expertise
Riva emphasized that travel advisors provide enormous value and should approach their work with the same confidence as other professional consultants.
“People are willing to pay for expertise across so many areas of their lives… travel is another incredibly important investment where expertise matters.” — Riva Bacquet
Custom travel design requires knowledge, experience, coordination, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence — all of which deserve to be valued accordingly.
Authenticity wins
Toward the end of the discussion, Genevieve asked Riva what she thinks travel businesses should stop doing immediately.
Her answer: being generic.
Overusing stock photography, relying on impersonal templates, and publishing content that lacks authenticity can make brands feel disconnected and forgettable.
Today’s travelers want to understand who they’re working with. They want real expertise, real perspectives, and real human connection.
For small travel businesses, that authenticity is one of the greatest competitive advantages they have.
A unique moment for independent travel businesses
As the conversation wrapped up, Riva left the audience with a final reminder:
This is a uniquely powerful time for independent businesses.
Today, a single advisor or small team can build an audience, establish expertise, grow a loyal community, and scale a business without needing the infrastructure of a massive company behind them.
The tools now exist to support independent travel professionals in ways that weren’t possible even a few years ago.
And for those willing to lean into their expertise, their niche, and their authenticity, the opportunity has never been greater.
Learn more about Rokitplace
Rokitplace helps independent travel advisors, creators, and niche travel entrepreneurs design, quote, book, and manage custom travel — all while staying focused on their clients and brand.
Explore the platform and connect with the team at rokitplace.com
