Happy Holidays For Travel Agents: Consumer Demand Surges 110%
by Doug Gollan /Photo: Josh Hallett
If you didn't realize already travel agents are the new black, American Express today released research at ILTM in Cannes showing staggering growth in demand for travel professionals like you. The data shows a 110.6% increase in plans to use a travel agent for holiday travel plans. Further, use of a travel agent increased 79.7% from 2015 to 2016, according to the American Express Spending & Saving Tracker.
In more good news for the industry, London and Paris are bouncing back from downturns based on future bookings for 2017.
Speaking to Travel Market Report, Claire M. Bennett, EVP and general kanager of American Express Travel, Entertainment and Dining said additionally places such as Cape Cod, Bath, England, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Newfoundland and Ecuador are increasingly on its customers trip maps. Places where consumers can have outdoor adventures such as Vancouver, Bozeman, Montana, Iceland and Auckland are also spiking, she said.
At the same time, consumers are taking longer vacations “for the first time in a long time,” Bennett said. Length of stay increased a whopping 26% in 2016 and for 2017 50% of bookings are for six days or more. Amex research also revealed 73% of travelers will go over budget for a unique experience and 50% will splurge on local cuisine.
She said that destinations hit by Zika scares are starting to see recovery. In other Amex news, she said Platinum card members who book travel using their card as the form of payment and the airline as the merchant now earn 5x Membership Rewards points for each purchase of air travel.