Here's the answer: the best niche is the one where three things line up, and "travel creator" is not it. Travel is a category with twelve economies inside it. The solo female safety storyteller, the points engineer, the cruise-first family, the wellness pilgrim, the budget backpacker, and the luxury suite reviewer are different businesses with different buyers and different rates. The points creator and the van lifer share zero buyers, which is exactly why generalists stall: the algorithm can't classify them, and neither can any brand's budget line.
The blunt economics: specific creators get paid, general ones get gifted. A hotel marketing manager with real budget doesn't search for "travel creator." She searches for the creator whose audience books overwater villas, or whose followers plan family resort trips. The generalist gets the hosted-stay spam. The specialist gets the campaign brief.
So test your shortlist against three signals. Unanswered demand: are there questions asked constantly and answered badly in the forums and comment sections where travelers actually decide? Buyers with budgets: how many brands actively spend in this lane? And your unfair access: can you shoot this lane honestly for 90 days without waiting for permission or funding? Then finish one sentence, "I'm the only travel creator who...", and commit to the lane for 90 days, because every off-lane post resets the algorithm's guess about who to show you to.
The twelve-lane map is Volume 2 of our Viral Travel & Hotel Creator Guide.
Own a lane, not a map.