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The New, New Thing— Travel Agents Are More

uence
Infl uential Than Ever Before
T
ravel Agents’ Infl
CONFIDENCE IN WHO ARE TODAY’S
INFORMATION SOURCES TRAVEL AGENTS?
Close to half of consumers say they are Extremely/Very
Sizing the market
CONFIDENCE IN INFORMA
confi dent in travel agents as a vacation information source
TION SOURCES
The U.S. Department of Labor states that there are 80,900
Close to half of consumers say they are Extremely/Very confident in travel agents
travel agents who earn a living selling travel in the
as a vacation destination information source United States.
Source: Occupational Employment and Wages 2006
Recommendations of a friend or family member 83%
Market breakdown
These agents are divided between store-front locations and
Information in travel guidebooks 48%
at-home agents.
Recommendations of a travel agent 46%
Information in a company or destination website 42%
Agents
at home
Information on the website of an online travel
agency such as Expedia, Travelocity, etc. 42%
Store-front
Articles in newspapers and magazines or
agents
programs on TV and radio 37%
Information Source
Information in travel brochures 32%
Personal comments or reviews appearing in
a web log or”Blog” 24%
Source: ARC, U.S. Department of Labor, Credit Suisse First Boston
Information in travel advertising 19%
TRAVEL AGENT TRENDS
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
ARC locations continue to shrink while at-home agents
Source: YPB&R May 2007 Leisure Travel Monitor
continue to grow.
Store-front Agents Per Total Store- At-Home
Year Locations Location Front Agents Agents
2006 15,900 4 63,600 17,250
2007 13,832 4 55,328 19,838
2008 12,656 4 50,625 22,813
2009 11,580 4 46,322 26,235
2010 10,596 4 42,385 30,170
(Historical ARC (ASTA (Avg: 24.5% (Credit
census data: Annual business Suisse
8.5% annual Research) 75.5% White Paper)
decrease) leisure sales)
PMG | 7
PMG-brochure_modem.indd 7 8/3/07 12:39:44 PM
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