Most of us start our travel businesses with the goal of being useful to everyone. We say yes, we stay flexible, and we don't close any doors. It feels like the right move when you're in the building phase, and that approach may work for a while. But eventually, it will plateau.

Kerry Mooneyham spent 25 years as a litigation paralegal before she transitioned into travel entrepreneurship. She spent nearly two years researching before she ever made the leap, and that same methodical instinct shaped how she built her business. Mexico and the Caribbean were the natural bread and butter for her Midwest-based business, and she served those clients well. But what she kept coming back to, both personally and professionally, was the South Pacific.

Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the islands... She had always felt a pull toward that part of the world, but she'd grown up believing that places like that were for wealthy people and celebrities, not for someone like her. And yet, she read everything she could find about that side of the world and watched Quigley Down Under more times than she'll admit. It wasn’t until she finally boarded a plane to Tahiti and traveled farther than Hawaii for the first time in her life that she realized the barrier wasn't money, but planning.

That realization became the foundation of how she works. She recognized the importance of investing in firsthand experience and personally traveled to destinations like Australia and Fiji. She toured New Zealand in an RV and kayaked through Antarctic ice on an expedition cruise. She built the kind of knowledge that doesn't come from a supplier webinar.

What she found on the other side of that investment was a different kind of client relationship. When a father wanted to experience Australia by recreating his children's childhood road trips, Kerry organized multiple RVs for them to drive the Great Ocean Road together. When a client planned to celebrate a 50th anniversary by taking the whole family to the other side of the world, Kerry built an itinerary that served both the 22-year-olds and the grandparents simultaneously. This type of in-depth planning can’t come from a brochure or the internet, but from working with someone who has been there and experienced it first-hand.

She still took on bookings for other destinations and eventually brought on a partner to handle those inquiries outside her lane. It wasn’t that she couldn't figure out those bookings, but that she knew where her real value lived, and Kerry wanted to continue the momentum she had spent so much time building.

We spend a lot of time in this industry talking about specialization as a marketing strategy — pick a niche and attract the right clients so you will stand out in a crowded space. Kerry's story takes this a step further, showing how depth is what makes the work sustainable. When you know a place the way she knows the South Pacific, you’re more engaged, more confident, and harder to replicate. No algorithm is going to tell someone they need reef-safe sunscreen before they visit a marine park in Hawaii. No booking engine is going to think about what the 22-year-old and the 70-year-old both need from the same trip.

The question isn't whether you need to specialize, but whether you're willing to invest deeply enough in something that the specialization becomes real — not a label you put on your website, but knowledge that shows up in how you serve your clients.

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If you love hearing stories like Kerry's, tune into The Travel Business Unpacked podcast! Each episode dives deep into the real stories, practical strategies, and transformational moments that turn travel dreams into thriving careers. Listen and subscribe on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and check out Kerry's full episode here.

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FAQs:

Should a travel agent specialize in one destination or stay general?

Specializing in one destination or travel type allows advisors to build the kind of deep, firsthand knowledge that luxury clients are actually paying for, as well as making them stand out among the competition. That said, specialization doesn't mean turning away loyal clients who want to go somewhere outside your lane. The practical answer is to go deep in your area of expertise and build a trusted network for everything else. Some host agencies such as Gifted Travel Network are built around a community-over-competition model, where advisors actively collaborate and share their expertise within the network.

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What is "continuing travel education" for travel agents?

‍Continuing travel education is the ongoing learning travel advisors do to stay current and deepen their expertise. It includes fam trips, supplier trainings, destination immersions, and personal travel. Unlike a one-time certification, CTE is a continuous practice. Advisors who treat it as a core business expense rather than a perk tend to grow faster and serve clients at a higher level.