by Brian Major
Last updated: 8:20 AM ET, Fri December 13, 2024
“Kindness” was the theme of the United States Tour
Operators Association (USTOA), Conference & Marketplace event in Marco
Island, Florida, this week, but the organization’s message for 2024 and 2025 could
well have been “growth,” as the group's membership is on the verge of a
uniquely successful period.
At the event, USTOA officials released results of its
2024 Economic Impact Study produced by PwC, which found travel packages sold by
its members generated $24.4 billion worth in economic impact in 2024, up 8.1
percent from 2023.
Additionally, members serviced 84.3 million individual
travelers, a 6.7 percent increase over 2023, and sold 3.84 million travel
packages, up 6.1 percent from 2023, 60.3 percent of which were sold through
travel agencies.
“It confirms everything I was hearing anecdotally and was
very encouraging,” said Terry Dale, USTOA’s CEO. “So I wasn't shocked, but it's
good to have it confirmed. That's all good news.”
Dale said the study also confirms the forecast for 2025 “is
very positive. If the numbers hold and the world doesn't explode
in 2025, it is going to be even better. So it's just reconfirmation of what I
was hearing, but it's just nice to have it confirmed by an organization like
PwC.”
Based on responses from 48 USTOA corporate members between July
18 and October 11, 2024, PwC’s survey also found that nearly half (46 percent) of
active USTOA members anticipate a significant growth in sales volume for 2025.
Respondents also identified escorted and guided tours as
its largest contributor to revenues, “with predictions for 2024 forecasting
stability across categories.”
Conversely, 50 percent of active members who responded to the
survey identified “political instability” as their largest concern affecting
their growth prospects within the next three years. Following closely among
members’ concerns are “geopolitical conflicts” (48 percent).
In terms of destinations, PwC’s study reports Europe
maintained its status as the most popular travel package destination in 2024 compared
to 2023 (52 percent of travel packages sold in both years).
Meanwhile, Italy is predicted to remain the most popular “hot
destination” in 2024/25, continuing that status from the last USTOA/PwC survey
in 2022. Portugal jumped from eighth in 2022 to second in 2024, while Greece,
second in 2022, fell to third in 2024.
Vietnam was identified by members as the top “off the
beaten path” destination for 2024/2025, followed by Iceland and Japan.
Finally, the survey reports nearly three quarters of USTOA’s
active members (71 percent) are “fairly or very” confident they are taking
sufficient action to address sustainability issues to remain competitive.
Their confidence seems well-placed as 56 percent of active members
have either an informal sustainability strategy or a formal strategy that is not
fully embedded. USTOA will host a “Sustainability Is Responsibility 4.0 Summit”
in Valencia, Spain from April 27 to 30, 2025.
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