TRAVEL AGENTS TODAY:
A LARGE, DYNAMIC OPPORTUNITY
Mark Murphy, Co-Founder
and President/CEO
In its Travel Agency Distribution Landscape Report, PhoCusWright titled one section: “Travel Agents Today: A Large,
Dynamic Opportunity.” That is certainly something that deserves repeating, since for many years pundits questioned the
viability of traditional travel agents. It’s even more remarkable when you consider that it comes from PhoCusWright, a
research company that traditionally has focused on the online travel world. One of the key findings of the report is the
sheer size of this travel agent market – $110 billion in sales in 2006, the last full year of the survey findings. Travel
suppliers and destinations are coming to the realization that a focus on the travel agent market, as part of a multi-channel
approach, is a necessity to growing their business.
Several trends in travel product distribution have been at work over the past few years, including the migration of the
consumer back to the traditional travel agent. There are a variety of reasons for this shift, including time poverty and the
desire by consumers to seek out a trusted source of unbiased information when making a significant travel purchase.
Travel can easily be a consumer’s largest discretionary purchase in any given year, but that is only part of the reason for
seeking out professional advice. The fact that consumers in the United States get an average of two weeks paid vacation
a year makes it more than just a financial decision. People just aren’t willing to put that precious time at risk and they
want a source to go back to if things don’t turn out as promised.
The consumer media has begun to understand this in earnest, touting the value of travel agents in newspaper and
magazine articles, as well as television spots. After several years of positive coverage of travel agents by the media, the
research world finally seems to have caught up with reality. In addition to PhoCusWright’s research, you’ll also find here
some new information from the 2008 Yankelovich Travel Monitor. In the latest edition of this study of consumer habits as
it pertains to the purchase of travel, Yankelovich noticed a significant increase in consumers returning to traditional travel
agents. Indeed, the Travel Monitor states: “The traditional travel agent appears to be making a comeback.”
We couldn’t agree more. In the following pages we outline some of the latest research and trends as they pertain to the
travel agency distribution channel. We look at the information needs of travel agents, a channel responsible for the sale of
the vast majority of all complex leisure travel, as well as the information products that meet those needs.
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