Thinking about this more deeply- we have three houses, roughly, that I want to loop in on this. Or a previously isolationist house, but that is unlikely.
There's going to need to be a number of services in place for this to happen. On the imperial side, you'd need to put together and advertise a collection of novel sights, natural wonders, and pampering, confirm or create suitable lodging and food at each, arrange a route and transportation or travel permits along it.
On the elven side you would need a currency exchange and/or auction house to get imperial money, a way to make reservations and communicate with the imperial side of the arrangements, and personal security.
Idk, put Eike on building out a route and it's attractions, she's got a better sense for what is where luxury-wise in the empire than anyone else who has an understanding of the elves.
Then the EIC intelligence network might be reversed to send a message out rather than collect info: the merchants and caravaners would be asked to extend a quiet offer to lodging and catering places that were in good locations. We take the one-off illithimar money, buy part ownership of a bunch and refurbish the places to a high standard, and spin it off as a side business of the EIC.
The elven houses would ideally be slotted into monopolies on the elf-side functions.
Personal security for the travellers is probably going to be the most intensive one- the house that picks this up would have a whole bunch of contact with imperial cities and nobles as they arrange for armed elves to be accepted visitors, plus they'd have to train up a bunch of elite bodyguard squads and keep them cycling outside Laurelorn.
On one hand, this is pivoting an entire house to interacting with humans a lot. On the other, this is an open invitation to become the most militarily powerful house in Laurelorn, and get a rep from the travelers who had their lives saved by bodyguards. It's the long term power play.
It would also have to work pretty closely with the house running communication and coordination. I'm imagining a mostly magical network of sending and receiving messages with human agents on site at the sights? Mostly the investment would be mages and book keeping in Laurelorn. This house would be the ones to provide travelers intelligence on the route(s), communication between Laurelorn and the travelers, reservation services for select* inns, coaches, attractions, and restaurants.
*EIC affiliated. Plus this way we use the EIC intelligence folk to keep an eye on the Eonir's intelligence network, and thus the empire has a measure of control. We'd basically be building the tools of a non-military foreign policy (intelligence, commerce, and a minor bit of power projection by arranging to have a few tourists be at the same places at the sames with their bodyguards) and shoving them into the Queen's hands like "here take these your religious thing is crumbling!"
So the last one would be the money-changers. Basically a way for the Eonir off the street to convert a few years of crafting into imperial money, with the promise of a route to power through banking.
They'd probably have to partner with or run a few auction houses and consortiums to batch up what the randos in the city were producing and sell it on to the rest of the world. Also, train up a bunch of assessors to be able to buy from the elves and sell to the humans and make a reliable margin, create a secure transit and vault system to bring large amounts of currency into Laurelorn and distribute it.
So, yeah. Big commitments, big potential rewards.
