Study Reveals Factors That Make Travel Agents Successful

Researchers at the University of South Carolina’s Sloan Foundation Travel & Tourism Industry Center (USC) have found that certain characteristics and practices of the most successful travel agencies can help other agencies, and new entrants to the business, improve their operations. Results of this first in-depth study of agency profitability conducted by USC/Sloan were presented at THETRADESHOW (Travel Retailing and Destination Expo) in Orlando Sunday 10 September.

“USC/Sloan’s groundbreaking research will be used as a basis to further enhance the profitability of ASTA members in the future,” said William A. Maloney, ASTA executive vice president and COO. “Travel agencies now have proven success models by which to pattern their business practices, which will undoubtedly change the way many agents build and increase their clientele.”

Although the industry took a series of blows between 1995 and 2001, drastically shrinking the number of agencies, some travel agencies have not only survived but thrived. The research presented by USC will explore how those agencies remained healthy despite the elimination of airline booking commissions, competition from the proliferating Internet travel suppliers and consumer attitudes in the wake of terrorist attacks.

The project leaders, Dr. David Weaver and Dr. Laura Lawton of USC, sought to identify the strengths, internal and external weaknesses, challenges and opportunities cited by top officers of financially successful agencies large and small, in comparison to those that have not fared as well.

Funded jointly by ASTA’s Corporate Advisory Council, The ASTA Foundation, Inc., Marriott International and the Sloan Center—a unit of the university’s College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management and Moore School of Business—the study began in December 2005 with a quantitative survey, followed by in-depth interviews with a select number of agencies’ officers to identify the strategies, attitudes and “best practices” of highly successful agencies.

The interviewees noted the need for public education on the value and benefits of travel and using travel agents. And they saw opportunities for strong growth in the next few years through specialization in niche markets and products: retiring “baby boomers” with plenty of discretionary income, the barely tapped cruise-ship market, honeymoons and destination weddings, the gay and lesbian market, ecotourism and family reunions.

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