The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) has published its annual "How America Travels" Study, which includes a wide-ranging survey of travel advisors shedding light on the perceptions of travel from the perspective of those who sell it.
This year's study, sponsored by Carnival Corporation & plc, produced some interesting insights, including some key takeaways pertaining to sales. Keep in mind that of the more than 1,060 advisors who participated in the survey, 52 percent identified as independent while 48 percent work at an agency. What's more, 59 percent of the latter group indicated that they are an owner or executive of their agency and 27 percent reported being a front-line advisor.
In what is no doubt excellent news for the state of the industry, the study found that as much as 20 percent of travel advisors who work at an agency estimate annual gross sales to reach $25 million or more while 23 percent of all advisors (independent and agency) anticipate annual gross sales to be $1 million or greater.
Half of the independent advisors (50 percent) reported less than $500,000 in annual gross sales compared to just one out of 10 (9 percent) agency advisors, who are more likely to report $5 million or more in sales (41 percent) compared to independent advisors (7 percent).
ASTA's research also shows that independent advisors tend to rely more heavily on cruise bookings, with 37.3 percent receiving more of their annual sales from cruises. That's compared to just 29.3 percent of agency advisors. Those advisors booking cruises at least several times per week said cruises account for nearly half of their sales (44 percent) compared to only 26 percent for advisors who book cruises less than once per week.
Regardless of independent or agency, one-third (33.6 percent) of annual sales are attributed to cruises, followed by tour packages and all-inclusive resorts, which each represent 14.1 percent of sales.
More than three-fourths of travel advisors (76 percent) indicated that more than 75 percent of their business is leisure-focused, with independent advisors reporting an even higher proportion of leisure business. Only 53 percent of respondents reporting $5 million or more in annual sales indicated that their business is heavily focused on the leisure market while 85 percent of those who reported less than $5 million in sales say leisure travel accounts for more than 75 percent of their business.
In addition to sales, ASTA's 2019 How America Travels Study examines a range of other invaluable data, including demographics, cruise bookings and economic outlook.
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