Looking for low-cost ways to get our first foreign customers for a travel planning business
I’m building a small travel business called Go2Ceylon, based around a fairly simple service: we create personalised Sri Lanka travel itineraries for foreign tourists.
The customer fills out a questionnaire telling us their travel dates, budget, interests, preferred travel style, etc. We then create a personalised itinerary showing them where to go, how to structure their trip, recommended hotels, restaurants, attractions, and travel routes.
The itinerary costs $10, so we’re aiming for a relatively high-volume, low-ticket model rather than selling expensive tours or packages. We don't actually operate tours or book hotels for customers; we provide the planning and recommendations.
Our target customers are international travellers planning trips to Sri Lanka, particularly people from markets such as the UK, India, Germany, Australia and the US.
We’ve been working on the business and our website/social media for around two months, but we haven't had our first paying customer yet.
We’re currently looking at content marketing, Instagram/TikTok, partnerships with accommodation providers, and direct outreach, but I’d like to hear from people who have actually built or marketed small online businesses:
What are the best low-cost ways you would recommend for getting our first 10–20 foreign customers?
Would you focus on direct outreach, travel communities, Reddit/Facebook groups, marketplaces like Fiverr/Upwork, paid advertising, partnerships, SEO, or something completely different?
I’m particularly interested in strategies that can work with a very small budget and generate actual paying customers rather than just followers or views.
Any honest criticism of the business model or advice on how you'd approach customer acquisition would also be appreciated.