ASTA said that its most recent member survey found that most agencies did better in 2012 than in 2011. Almost half of member agencies reported stronger revenue and transaction volume and an increase in the number of clients.
"Despite the ongoing challenges facing the global economy, ASTA members benefited from the traveling public's appetite for travel," said Zane Kerby, president and CEO of ASTA. "Some improvement can be attributed to consumers' evolving view of travel as a 'right.' Recent consumer surveys report that consumer travel behavior and patterns are less tied to current economic conditions."
Retail leisure agencies reported the strongest performance, with 54% reporting increased revenues. Forty-five percent of independent agents reported increased revenue.
When asked about sales per travel segment, agencies reported the biggest increases in air, hotel and insurance when comparing 2012 with 2011.
Overall, a majority of ASTA agencies "realized a profit" in 2012. When agencies were broken out by business type, the highest percentage of profitable agencies was reported in the corporate agency segment.
ASTA conducted the survey through the ASTA Research Family, a panel comprised of a representative sample of ASTA member travel agency owners and managers and reflects ASTA members in key agency demographics including sales volume, leisure/business mix, number of part-time and full-time employees and geographic location. The survey data was collected online in January.
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