ravel agency sales seem to be on the
rebound, judging from a peek at first-quarter data from ARC's
settlement system. During the first 13 weeks of the year, ARC
locations remitted nearly $15.3 billion in airline and other travel
sales, an 11% increase over the same period of 2003, when sales
were depressed because of the Iraq war.
There is still some ground to be made up, though. The 2004 total
is on a par with the same period of 2002, when the industry was
still reeling from the effects of 9/11, and is still far below the
peak year of 2001.
Because of the rising profile of low-cost carriers in domestic
markets and the consequent downward pressure on fares, the rebound
looks lopsided, with international sales roaring back with a 27%
increase during the quarter to nearly $6 billion, whereas the
dollar volume of domestic sales in the first quarter rose by a
modest 3% to just over $9.3 billion.
As a result, the proportion of the total sales volume generated
by domestic sales slipped from 66% to 61%, the lowest first-quarter
share in over six years.
The combination of rising sales and industry consolidation
continues to have the effect of substantially boosting the average
weekly sales volume per location. At the end of March, the average
stood at $52,427, about 23% above the $42,652 reported three years
ago.
Also on the rise is e-ticketing. ARC reported that e-ticketing
accounting for 84.4% of all transactions in March, up from 80% a
year ago, 57% in March 2001.