Passports, Profits and Pixie Dust | Business Systems, Coaching & Marketing for Travel Agents

Are You Building YOUR Dream Travel Business—or Someone Else's? Are you building the travel business you actually want—or chasing someone else’s definition of success? In the first episode of my new October series, The Business You Actually Want, we’re taking a step back from sales strategies, systems, and bookings to ask a bigger question: What does success actually look like for YOU? It’s easy to look around the travel industry and think success means million-dollar sales, huge teams, constant travel, hosted groups, supplier awards, or leaving your full-time job. But just because someone else wants those things doesn’t mean you have to. In this episode, we’re talking about: Why it’s so easy to adopt someone else’s definition of success The difference between growing bigger and growing better Why you’re allowed to keep your travel business small—or dream MUCH bigger How to determine whether your current goals are actually yours The hidden cost and trade-offs behind the business you say you want Why your definition of success is allowed to change How to start designing a travel business that supports your life instead of consuming it Your Challenge: The Dream Business Audit Take some time this week to answer: 1. Why did I originally start my travel business? 2. If I stopped worrying about what everyone else was doing, what would I want my business to look like? 3. What are three things I absolutely do NOT want my business to become? Because the goal isn’t to build the travel business that looks the most impressive from the outside. The goal is to build a profitable, sustainable business that gives YOU the life you actually want. 🎧 Coming next: Part 2 of The Business You Actually Want — why more bookings don’t necessarily mean more success and how to think differently about revenue, profit, and your “enough” number. Connect With Lindsay ✈️ Connect: https://www.lindsaydollinger.com https://www.instagram.com/lindsaydollinger 🎙️ Subscribe to Passports, Profits, and Pixie Dust so you don’t miss the rest of The Business You Actually Want series.

Selling the Mexican Caribbean is about a LOT more than finding a pretty all-inclusive resort. In this episode of Passports, Profits, and Pixie Dust, I’m joined by Lori Gold, creator of Mexperts and a travel industry veteran who has spent more than 10 years living in the Mexican Caribbean. We’re talking about what travel advisors really need to know to confidently sell Mexico—from qualifying clients and understanding resort areas to getting firsthand destination experience and choosing a niche you’re genuinely passionate about. In this episode: How Lori became a Mexican Caribbean specialist Why Mexico can be more complicated to sell than advisors realize Questions to ask before recommending an all-inclusive resort How different areas of the Mexican Caribbean compare Common mistakes advisors make when matching clients with resorts How to get the most from resort site inspections Talking to clients about safety, weather, and hurricane season Why firsthand destination experience matters How passion can help you choose—and succeed in—a travel niche What Lori offers travel advisors through Mexperts One of my favorite takeaways? If you want to become known as an expert, you have to be willing to become obsessed with what you sell. Learn it. Experience it. Stay current on it. And become the person your clients trust because you know the details they can't find in a quick Google search. Connect with Lori Mexperts: https://www.exploremoremexico.com/a/2147513843/EJeoAttn Free Mexican Caribbean 101 Training: https://www.exploremoremexico.com/a/2147740282/EJeoAttn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explorewithlor More from Lindsay: Ready to grow your travel business? Subscribe to the podcast for more travel advisor sales, marketing, systems, and business strategies. Thinking about becoming a travel advisor? Grab my FREE 7-video Become a Travel Agent Mini-Course: https://atlastiseetheworldtravel.com/becoming-a-travel-agent/

Your Profitable Q4 Plan: Finish the Year Strong AND Set Up Your 2027 Q4 isn't just about squeezing in a few more bookings before December 31. The work you do now is also building the pipeline that will carry you into 2027. In this final episode of the Success September series, we're creating a simple, profitable Q4 plan that helps you focus on what actually moves your travel business forward—without trying to do ALL the things. We're talking about how to define what a successful Q4 actually looks like for you, reverse engineer your revenue goals into actionable marketing activities, and prepare for Wave Season before January arrives. Plus, we're redefining what it means to scale your travel business. Spoiler: it doesn't have to mean building a massive agency or working more hours. Sometimes scaling simply means getting more from what's already working. In this episode: How to define your version of a successful Q4 The Goal → Bookings → Inquiries → Leads → Marketing Activities formula Why your Q4 marketing is building your Q1 pipeline How to prepare your audience and business for Wave Season now Why January 2 is too late to start thinking about January How to identify what's already working and do more of it The five pieces of your Q4 Success Plan Your Success September Challenge Create a one-page Q4 Success Plan with: ONE revenue goal ONE primary offer or focus ONE audience-growth goal ONE system to improve ONE weekly sales activity Keep it simple. Keep it visible. And most importantly—actually use it. You don't need 47 new strategies to finish the year strong. You need clarity, consistency, and a plan that helps you focus on the activities that actually grow your business. Because Q4 isn't just the end of 2026. It's your runway into 2027. Ready to grow your travel business? Love these strategies and want more support building a profitable travel business? Be sure to subscribe to Passports, Profits and Pixie Dust so you don't miss upcoming episodes. And if you're thinking about becoming a travel advisor—or you're ready to learn what getting started actually looks like—check out my free 7-video Become a Travel Agent Mini-Course to learn how travel advisors make money, choose a niche, find clients, and start building their business. https://www.lindsaydollinger.com/quiz https://www.atlastiseetheworldtravel.com

Take my quiz here: https://www.lindsaydollinger.com/quiz to find out the best way for YOU to get more clients Want more travel clients this fall? Posting “Book your vacation with me!” over and over isn't a travel advisor marketing strategy. In this episode of Passports, Profits, and Pixie Dust, we're talking about how to create an intentional fall travel sales plan that helps you market the right trips at the right time—and turn your audience into actual clients. You'll learn why travel advisors should focus less on what's happening in travel right now and more on what clients need to book right now. We're also talking about creating a simple fall sales calendar, following up with your warm audience, and using educational content to sell without constantly feeling salesy. In this episode: What your travel clients should be booking now How to create a focused fall sales calendar Why your warm audience is one of your best sales opportunities How to follow up with past clients and old travel leads How to sell travel through education instead of constant promotion Why choosing ONE travel experience to promote can simplify your marketing Your challenge: Choose one travel product or experience you want to sell for the next 30 days and build your marketing around it. Stop waiting for clients to magically appear. Give them a reason to come to you. Ready for your next step? 🎧 Subscribe to Passports, Profits, and Pixie Dust so you don't miss the next episode. Want to build your travel business with support, training, systems, and mentorship? Learn more about joining At Last I See The World Travel. 📲 Follow me on social media for more travel advisor business, marketing, and sales tips. https://www.facebook.com/Lindsay.dollinger https://www.instagram.com/lindsaydollinger

Before you try to sell more travel in Q4, there’s one very important question you need to ask: Can your business actually HANDLE more clients? Because getting more leads and bookings sounds great…until you’re manually sending every email, forgetting to follow up on quotes, scrambling to remember final payment dates, and running your entire travel business out of your brain and seventeen Post-it notes. Welcome to Systems September, the next episode in my Success September series! In this episode of Passports, Profits, and Pixie Dust, we’re talking about how to create simple systems that make your travel business easier to run—and give you the capacity to actually GROW. And no, I’m not giving you a list of 47 automations you need to set up by tomorrow. Instead, I’m breaking your travel business into five core systems and showing you where to look for the friction that is costing you time, energy, and probably a little bit of your sanity. In this episode, you'll learn: The simple question that can uncover where you most need a system The five core systems every travel advisor needs How to create a smoother path from lead → inquiry → booking → travel → repeat/referral client Why your marketing needs to be a repeatable system—not something you reinvent every morning The important difference between systemizing and automating Why a checklist, template, calendar block, or CRM workflow ALL count as systems How I use automation, templates, batching, delegation, and systems to run my travel business while also having another career Why sometimes the best system is simply deciding to stop doing something How better systems create the capacity to take on more clients without creating more chaos Why you should build the infrastructure for growth before you actually need it Links & Resources Connect with Lindsay: https://www.lindsaydollinger.com https://www.instagram.com/lindsaydollinger 💼 Curious about becoming a travel advisor?https://www.atlastiseetheworldtravel.com/quiz Try Tern: http://try.tern.travel/7fQCVH