Travel Industry Survey 2021

About the Travel Industry Survey

For the 2022 Travel Industry Survey, Travel Weekly teamed up with its sister brand, the travel research company Phocuswright, to examine trends among travel agencies and travel advisors in the U.S. The information presented in this report was obtained by distributing an online questionnaire to Travel Weekly and TravelAge West subscribers as well as members of various consortia and host agencies, inviting them to participate in the research project. 

The survey results were based on responses received by Phocuswright from 1,356 travel advisors who completed the questionnaire from July 22 to Aug. 15. The report only allowed responses from those who are currently employed by a travel agency, are independent contractors for a travel agency or are travel agency owners or managers.

These responses were analyzed to understand the current state of the travel agency landscape and examine current industry trends. Since the sample is not representative of all travel agencies in the U.S., the data is not statistically weighted.

We compare different groups of travel advisors in this report, and they are defined as:

• Traditional travel agents: travel agency office/retail storefront and home-based retail travel agency employees.

• Home-based independent agents: home-based, hosted independent contractors and home-based, fully independent agencies.

This year, some new questions and categories were introduced to the survey, including ones that address the value of product education and training, travel product specialization and why clients book with advisors.

Demographics

The majority of advisors surveyed this year are based in the South (41%), followed by the West (22%), Midwest (18%) and the Northeast (20%). The top states represented among respondents in this year’s study are Florida (13%), California (10%), Texas (8%) and New York (5%). 

Women represent 72% of the Travel Industry Survey respondents; 44% of respondents report having worked in travel for more than 30 years and being 65 or older. 

When asked to describe their position, 54% said they own or manage a travel agency, 35% reported being independent contractors for a travel agency and 12% said they are employees of a travel agency. Nearly half of all those who work full time and cite travel as their primary income source make less than $50,000 annually.

Travel Weekly did not field the Travel Industry Survey in 2020. As a result, some of the charts do not have data about 2019 sales.

Contributors

On the following pages, Travel Weekly editors offer analysis to help explain and break down the data found in the 2022 Travel Industry Survey.