A 34-year-old part-time influencer became a travel agent as a side hustle and sold $119,000 worth of trips in 8 months. She shares how she got started and makes money.

Cooper first started posting photos of her travels on Instagram in 2015, later creating a TikTok account to produce videos focused on luxury budget travel. Today, she’s traveled to 44 countries and amassed a following of almost 129,000 followers across the two social platforms.

Even though she’s worked with brands including Tourism Ireland, Sofitel, Visit Dubai, Emirates Red, and Travel Noire to monetize her content by creating videos and carousel posts, the 34-year-old hoped to boost her income even more. She was also looking to play a more active role in coordinating travel for her online community.

“I wanted to find a way of using my travel knowledge to help other people actually go places, instead of just posting content for them to see,” Cooper told Business Insider. 

She’s one of several people using their experience as travel creators to build lucrative businesses; some are becoming certified travel agents like her while others are organizing group trips.

In the past eight months, Cooper has sold $119,000 worth of trips to clients from around the world, who book specific travel packages that she offers through an online travel advisor company, according to documentation viewed by BI.

Certifications and commissions galore

When Cooper first explored the idea of becoming a travel agent in 2018, she was overwhelmed by the process. 

“I didn’t know where to begin, so I decided to just stick to influencing,” she said.

However, in early 2023, one of her mentors, a creator who had been accredited to become a travel agent, offered to help walk her through the process step-by-step.  Today, Cooper has nine agent certifications, viewed by BI, including from Carnival Cruises and Marriott International Hotels.

She offers her clients a variety of travel packages, such as a VIP concierge experience, and when they book, Cooper earns a commission that ranges from $200 to $600 per person. While many people have reached out to her for assistance because they’ve seen her content and trust her experience, word of mouth has been one of the most successful tactics for landing work, she said.

That’s why travel creators don’t have to have a lot of followers in order to be successful in this profession.

“You have to be willing to talk to people at your husband’s dinner party or on the street,” she said.  “You don’t have to sell travel —people already want it — so you just have to tell them you’re the person who can make that happen.”

A ‘boom’ in travel creators becoming agents could be the future

Today, Cooper mentors a few travel creators herself who are interested in getting their agent certifications.

She also tries to persuade other friends in the travel community to look into this line of work but said the idea is sometimes met with skepticism because of the time commitment.

However, she thinks it will be a popular side hustle for travel creators since she said brand deals — the main way many influencers earn money — are often an inconsistent source of income.

“I don’t think enough creators realize how much money there is to be made,” she said. “These days, people want travel experts they trust to book their trips, and as creators, we naturally build that trust because of the content we post.”

Cooper hasn’t stopped traveling herself either and still works with brands to help pay for her trips.

Her minimum rate for a sponsored TikTok video is $750 and she charges at least $500 for an Instagram reel or carousel post. She said those rates would be much higher if she was a full-time influencer, but these prices allow her more flexibility to negotiate terms with the brands, like for how long she goes to a country.

“I still have a 9-to-5, so I can’t pick up and go somewhere for a week if it doesn’t work for my schedule,” she said. “I love what I do, but travel is my passion too, so I’m juggling it all now.”