The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) recently unveiled its annual ASTA 2010 Technology and Web Usage Report. The report shows that 27 percent of client requests now come through agents’ websites, and account for 18 percent of all agency revenues.

ASTA Survey - Breakup of online booking supplier types

Highlights from the report:

- 78 percent of travel agents now have a website, as compared to 75.2 percent in 2009.

- 81 percent (same as 2009) say they have booked directly on a supplier’s website without using their GDS or calling the supplier.

- The percentage of bookings made through supplier websites decreased in 2010 to 40 percent, from 45 percent in 2009.

- 43 percent have an online tool on their site.

- 52 percent named Facebook as their most-used networking and marketing technique.

“Travel agents are very adept at using the Internet for research, gathering travel industry information and for booking travel, and today, many are also using the Internet and some form of social media for marketing,” said ASTA President and Chairman Chris Russo. “Rather than being pushed out of business by the Internet, as many had predicted, travel agents have embraced it and are leveraging its power to enhance their operations.”

Ironically, 30 percent of agencies out of the 81 percent who take airline bookings on the web are being forced to get on the phone to assist travelers with booking ancillary services.

ASTA Survey - Website update frequency

The figures and statement mentioned above (published by ASTA in a press release) indicate that travel agents are becoming increasingly web savvy.

But a deeper look (relevant section begins on page 26) suggests that they may actually be a little behind the curve, at least as regards their adoption of web 2.0 and social media.

Most agencies (90 percent) use their website to provide an e-mail link to their agency, and only 17 percent of those that have a website update it daily.

While 52 percent of travel agencies have Facebook profiles, only 13 percent say social media is essential, while a third are sitting on the fence saying they’re still learning. Twenty-one percent say social media is “unproven” as a marketing tool and 16 percent have already decided that it is a “waste of time.”

Also, very few are on top of online reputation management, with only 3 percent saying they check the internet for mentions of their company; 70 percent say they don’t check the internet at all for mentions.

Charts from ASTA via Travel Weekly; Visit www.asta.org/ for more information.

Related posts:
Travel Agent Survey – Growing Discontent, Social Media a ‘Waste of Time’
ASTA/NACTA Reports Show Shifting Trends for Travel Agents & Agencies
Leisure World 2011 Aims to Get Travel Agents Hooked on Social Media

Travel Weekly has published the 2010 Travel Industry survey, based on responses from 2,191 travel agents. While there’s a whole lot of interesting data in the report, here’s a few of the highlights that stand out from the rest.

Travel Industry Survey 2010

- Avg annual sales of home based agents is down 11% to $330,000

- Leisure/Business ratio in 2009 was 73/27 percent (85% leisure for home-based agents; 69% for $3m+ brick & mortar agencies; and 54% for $10m+ brick & mortar)

- Domestic/International mix stands at 51/49

- GDS users are down to 76%

- As a percentage of agency sales, cruises account for 28%; Hotels & inclusive resort bookings 27% (hotels alone are up to 14% as compared to last year’s 10%); and air travel is at 25%.

There are two other interesting parts to the survey. First, according to a psychographic analysis of the responses done by Stanley Plog, the data shows that there is widespread discontent among travel agents worried about their future.

The survey puts respondents  into three categories – Contenteds, Seekers and Careerists. The Contenteds are the happiest of the lot, who like their work, enjoy leisure travel and believe that travel suppliers are fair and honest. The Careerists are the motivated ones intent on being a success, while the Seekers are the unhappy ones who don’t see a future and plan to change their field soon.

The report compares this psychographic breakdown for the last four years, and turns out that while the number of Careerists remains about the same, a large number of Contenteds have given up and become Seekers.

Among home-based agents, the number of Seekers grew from 23% in 2009 to 31% this year, and for retail the shift is even more pronounced – from 36% to 49%. Simply put, a full half of retail agents are unhappy, believe they’re not being paid adequately and anticipate quitting the field in the near future.

Another equally stunning revelation in the report is the lack of web-savvy among ASTA members. A large number of travel agents (37%) think that social media is a ‘waste of time.’ 33% say they’re still learning about it, and only 20% have used twitter.

78% have a website, but only 20% have updated it daily over the last five years. Few offer an online booking option, and among those do, the online booking rate is only 7%. Only 6% have video on the site, 16% have a site feedback mechanism, and 24% offer a search box.

Full Travel Industry Survey 2010 – Travel Weekly

In its June 28 issue, Travel Weekly has published their annual Power List of the world’s largest travel sellers. Expedia jumped from third place in 2008 to become the No.1 seller of travel in the world in 2009.

Travel Weekly 2010 Power List

Ever since Travel Weekly started publishing its survey results in 1992, American Express has held the top slot. Expedia beat them this year with 2009 sales of $21.8 billion.

American Express came in second with $21.5 billion, followed closely by Carlson Wagonlist Travel who dropped from second to third place, with $21.4 billion in sales.

93.6% of Expedia’s sales came from leisure travel (includes unmanaged business travel), so the business travel slump last year didn’t affect Expedia as much as American Express or CWT.

Will Expedia be able to hold on to it’s top spot as the business travel sector picks up in 2010 and beyond? Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tells Travel Weekly that they’d like to think so, and have plans to build a $40 billion global travel empire.

Listed below are the top 10 agencies in the 2010 Power List.

1.   Expedia Inc. – $21.8 billion
2.   American Express – $21.5 billion
3.   Carlson Wagonlit Travel – $21.4 billion 
4.   Hogg Robinson Group – $16 billion     
5.   BCD Travel – $14.6 billion
6.   Orbitz Worldwide – $10.1 billion
7.   Priceline.com – $9.3 billion
8.   AAA Travel – $3.23 billion
9.   Flight Centre USA – $1.88 billion
10. Travel Leaders Group – $1.68 billion

Note:- Travelocity doesn’t figure in the top 10 because they did not provide sales figures. Travel Weekly estimates Travelocity’s 2009 sales to be around $9.86 billion, which puts them at no.7 on the Power List, between Orbitz and Priceline. 

See the full survey results – TravelWeekly 2010 Power List

The 2009 NACTA Independent Agents Report – a joint study by ASTA and NACTA, shows several shifts in the independent agent population, including an increasing number of independent agents working from home.

Travel Agency

Turns out that 85.1% of independent agents are now working out of their homes, as compared to 77.9% in 2006. The report also says that the average NACTA independent agent has been in the travel business for 11.9 years, and works on selling travel 33.8 hours every week.

Almost a third of respondents reported that their gross sales and revenue were up compared to the same time period in 2008. Average annual gross sales for 2008 were reported to be under $250,000, with revenue under $50,000.

57.2% of respondents say that at least 15% of their agency is dedicated to cruises, and Royal Caribbean and Carnival were the top cruise lines used. 45.9% used the telephone as the primary booking channel for cruises, down from 50.1% in 2008.

Globus was the top choice for escorted tour operator, while GoGo was the top tour provider used.

ASTA also released another report which examines the trends in the travel agency business, which shows that while most leisure agencies are expecting to recover in early 2010, corporate agencies are not expecting a recovery until the spring of 2010 or later.

Agencies were asked specifically about changes in employment and independent contractor usage to gauge how employment has been affected by the slowdown.

According to this study, when comparing the first half of 2009 to the same time period in 2008, 78.2% of agencies saw a decrease in revenue, while 75.2% saw a decrease in transactions. 63.6% of agencies saw a decrease in the number of clients when comparing the first half of 2009 to the first half of 2008. 76% are cutting operating costs and 54% took less pay in response to the economy.

More than half of all responding agencies are planning no changes in regards to employees. But a larger percentage of corporate agencies are, in fact, considering changes in regards to employees.

Data from these reports, combined with the overall trend of travel agents closing shop and moving towards a combination of part-time home based telephone and online service indicates that travel agents are working the same hours, but for lower revenues. The NACTA report reveals that only 33.8% of their members now consider selling travel as their primary source of income.

Also, as more travel agents start working both offline and online, they are opting to focus on niche travel sectors, such as family travel or cruises, and their personal connections with clients and knowledge of travel suppliers is beginning to make an impact on the web and the way travel planning sites work.

For more information or to read the full reports, visit American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) at www.asta.org/ and The National Association of Career Travel Agents (NACTA) at www.nacta.com/

Photo by Justin Marty