Travel entrepreneurship courses and portals have become increasingly popular, often promising lucrative opportunities in the travel industry with minimal effort. However, many of these offerings can be scams or at best, misleading business models. Here’s an overview of the common scams or deceptive practices behind these travel entrepreneurship courses and portals:
1. Overhyped Promises of Easy Wealth
Many travel entrepreneurship programs market themselves as easy pathways to financial freedom or a luxurious lifestyle by leveraging travel. The people behind these programs will even use terms like "employee" as if being one is something to be ashamed of, while promoting the idea that becoming a "zero to CEO" is as simple as buying their portal. They often claim that you can earn money while traveling with little experience, minimal investment, or effort. However, the truth is that the people making these claims are often not earning money while traveling at all. Instead, they are using their travel lifestyle as a marketing tool to lure others in. Building a sustainable business, especially in the competitive travel industry, requires significant effort, experience, and often a lot of initial investment, making these promises unrealistic for most.
2. Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) Schemes
Some travel-related businesses, especially those in the "travel agent" space, operate as multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes. In these setups, participants are encouraged to recruit others to buy into the program, often under the guise of selling travel packages, booking services, or memberships. These programs focus more on recruitment and commissions from new enrollments than on actual sales of travel services. The people at the bottom of the pyramid often end up losing money, while those at the top profit mainly from the recruitment fees.
3. Selling Expensive "Courses" with Little Value
Many travel entrepreneurship courses are sold at high prices but contain little more than generic, recycled information. The content often includes surface-level advice on topics like starting a travel blog, becoming a travel agent, or using affiliate marketing to promote travel deals. While some of the content might be useful, the courses usually don't provide actionable strategies or support for long-term success. In many cases, the courses are more focused on convincing people to spend money on upsells, such as advanced coaching, memberships, or “exclusive” tools.
4. High Initial Costs with Hidden Fees
Travel entrepreneurship courses, portals, or affiliate programs often have hidden fees, especially for so-called "exclusive" deals or premium packages. While the initial price might seem reasonable, many programs have recurring monthly or yearly fees for tools, booking platforms, or training updates. These additional costs can quickly add up, making the program less profitable or even a loss for participants.
5. Affiliate Programs with Little Traffic or Value
Some travel portals or programs are designed to promote travel-related affiliate links. However, they often fail to provide substantial traffic or marketing resources to help entrepreneurs succeed. This creates a situation where participants spend time and money promoting links but earn very little in commissions. The key to affiliate marketing success is having a significant audience, which these programs rarely teach or help participants build.
6. Fake Success Stories
Travel entrepreneurship courses and portals often display success stories or testimonials from people who have made a lot of money by following the program. However, these success stories are often fabricated or selectively chosen. The testimonials may come from affiliates who make money from signing up others or from individuals who have already been successful in another business area. These "success stories" can mislead potential customers into thinking that the program will lead to immediate success.
7. Lack of Real Support
Many of these courses and programs offer "mentorship" or "coaching," but in reality, the support is minimal or generic. Once you sign up, you often find it difficult to get one-on-one help or to get any responses to specific queries. The focus remains on selling more services or courses rather than genuinely helping participants succeed.
8. Misleading "Free" Offers
Some travel portals or courses market themselves as “free” but require you to pay for a variety of hidden services or upsell products. These free offers often serve as bait, and once you sign up, you're pressured into paying for more expensive training, resources, or tools that you didn't initially anticipate.
9. Scammy Travel Deals and Fake Opportunities
Some portals or courses may present a seemingly "exclusive" travel deal or opportunity, only for you to discover that these deals are either fake or widely available elsewhere at a much lower cost. Some entrepreneurs are taught to sell "exclusive" travel packages, but the deals are often just basic bookings that can be easily found on other sites for a fraction of the price.
Red Flags to Watch Out For:
- Unrealistic promises: If something sounds too good to be true (e.g., "Earn Php 10,000/month from home with little effort"), it's likely a scam.
- Pressure tactics: If a program pushes you to make quick decisions or pressures you into purchasing additional products or services, be cautious.
- Lack of transparency: If you can’t easily find detailed, verifiable information about the course creators, their track record, or the program structure, that’s a red flag.
- Fake or manipulated testimonials: Success stories that are too polished or generic may be fabricated.
10. Passing on Their Financial Burden to New Recruits
Many of the individuals behind these travel entrepreneurship scams have invested significant amounts of money into travel booking portals, membership platforms, or other services that require ongoing maintenance fees. These entrepreneurs, having committed substantial capital to these ventures, are essentially trying to recover their investment by recruiting others into the system.
Here’s how the scam works: The creators behind these scams often make a big initial investment in expensive travel booking platforms with high licensing, technology, and maintenance costs. To recover these expenses, they pass them on to new participants. New recruits are promised the chance to build their own business but end up paying hefty upfront fees and monthly maintenance costs that cover the creators' financial commitments. These payments, often disguised as "business tools" or "membership fees," mainly serve to cover the creators' expenses. The program's success relies on continuously recruiting new people, creating a cycle where each new recruit pays for the previous ones.