Preliminary data from a Host Agency Reviews (HAR) survey of nearly 800 travel advisors indicates that while 29% of respondents reported that they stopped selling travel as a primary source of income during Covid, the vast majority of that share say they do ultimately plan to return to travel as their main livelihood.
The survey was to close July 31. But in the preliminary findings, of the 29% who halted selling amid the pandemic, 74% said that they intend to go back to travel as a primary income source, while 19% said they are unsure. Only 7% reported that they won't go back to selling travel as a primary source of income.
On the topic of host agencies, 11% of hosted advisors polled said they had switched hosts in 2020. Among those who did switch, 65% confirmed they made the change during the pandemic, though no respondents cited Covid as their explicit reason for making the change.
Approximately 65% of the respondents that completed Host Agency Reviews' survey reported being hosted.
On the topic of fees: Of the advisors who didn't charge fees in 2020, 35% said that they plan to implement fees sometime in the next 12 months.
The average booking amount among all respondents was $4,334.