U.S. travel professionals voice optimism

March 12, 2010 | Online Travel

Amadeus announced the results of its recent survey inviting North American travel agents to share their outlook on the travel industry and how emerging trends are poised to reshape their business as the economy begins to recover.

Almost 800 travel professionals responded to the 16-question Amadeus survey conducted online from February 12-19, 2010.

“We wanted to hear from the travel agency community about what will impact them, their business and their customers. And we want to help them prepare to capitalize on emerging opportunities as the industry transitions into recovery,” said Tom Cates, Chief Commercial Officer, Amadeus North America.

According to Cates, one of the key survey outcomes is that, even in the face of current marketplace challenges, North American travel professionals are optimistic about the future—for their own business as well as for the industry overall.

When asked how optimistic they were about the year ahead in terms of their own business, the vast majority (88%) of travel agents surveyed reported that they were optimistic or very optimistic, and almost a third (29.5%) said they were very optimistic. When asked how optimistic they were about the future growth of the overall travel industry, the vast majority (85.6%) were again optimistic or very optimistic.

The survey also asked travel professionals about the impact of three significant trends revealed in Amadeus’ recent global report, “The Amateur-Expert Traveller”—namely the rise of the “amateur-expert” traveler, the increasing role of technology throughout the trip experience, and the growth of specialty or niche travel.

“Amateur-expert” travelers are defined as frequent travelers who are more knowledgeable about their destination and what to expect when they get there. Respondent comments showed that travel agents welcome knowledgeable clients who have a better idea of what they want, but who also value and seek expert advice. More than half (50.5%) of travel professionals surveyed welcome and like to work with amateur-expert travelers as clients.

The second trend focuses on the increased role of technology throughout the journey, from the trip-planning phase through arrival back home. Travel professionals feel additional opportunity exists for technology to further improve the travel experience in areas including researching the trip (64.6%) and finding pricing/availability information (55.8%). They also expect next-generation travelers to get more “social.” Social networking (47.5%) tops the list of what travel agents feel will have the greatest impact on how tomorrow’s travelers research and book travel, followed by user-generated reviews (19.8%). Agents are responding to social media’s rise, with more than half (55.7%) indicating that they or their agencies are active in online social channels.

The third trend, the growth of niche travel, relates not only to the specialty travel focus of agents, but also selling other niche services which may present profitable opportunities. When it comes to the niche and specialty area of travel, professionals see major opportunities in family-friendly travel (59.9%), weddings (47.6%), and adventure travel (36.8%). But agents see little or no promise in other areas such as selling travel goods (56.5%) or air charters (54.6%).

The majority of survey respondents described themselves as travel agency owners/managers (41.3%), travel agents (26%), home-based agents (23.4%) and independent consultants (9.3%). The respondents reported they focus primarily on leisure/destination travel (72.2%) and work in the U.S. (93.7%).

“We’re very encouraged by what the survey indicates about how travel professionals feel about their business and industry as economic recovery gains a foothold,” Cates said. “Travel agents are rolling with changes in the industry and with their clients, and they are ready for whatever becomes the ‘new normal’ in this evolving industry.”