ARC reported a 26.1% drop in travel agency sales for April.

ARC said the drop looks particularly precipitous because April 2008 was exceptionally strong, as seen when comparing 2008 with the years preceding it.

A healthy portion of the drop was attributable to lower airfares. The number of transactions fell by a more modest 12.3%.

Total sales for April 2009 totaled $5.8 billion. Total sales for the year to date were $22.4 billion, a 24.8% decrease.

Agents reported 12.4 million transactions in April. For the first four months of the year, they handled 47.4 million transactions, 14.7% fewer than the same period a year ago.

In April, domestic sales were down 26.8%, to $2.6 billion. Domestic transactions were down 13.7%, to 8.9 million.

International sales fell 29.1%, to $2.3 billion, but the number of transactions did not fall as much. Total international transactions were down 8.5%, to 3.5 million.