U.S. Travel Agency Air Ticket Sales Remain Strong: Positive News for Travel Industry

Talks of a travel downturn will have to wait, according to the latest travel data released this week.

Airlines Reporting Corp (ARC) released its July 2024 U.S. travel agency air ticket sales on Thursday and the numbers show more of the same for the travel agency—sales up, trips up, and ticket prices slightly down both year-over-year and month-over-month.

According to ARC, total sales for July hit $7.9 billion, a 5% increase from both July 2023 and June 2024, even as average ticket prices ticked down 1%.

Passenger trips, at 24.1 million, were up 6% from July 2023 and 10% from June 2024 with domestic trips at 9% month-over-month and 12% year-over-year, seeing a larger increase than international at 2% month-over-month and 6% year-over-year.

The July 2024 number also goes against a seasonal trend that typically sees sales drop off from July to August before jumping back up in the fall.

“Projections of waning traveler demand are not reflected in U.S. agency sales to start the second half of the year, which is positive news for both travel agencies and airlines,” said Steve Solomon, chief commercial officer at ARC. “As leisure travel slows with the end of summer, airlines will look to corporate travel to continue the momentum in passenger trip growth.”

The high point for ARC sales remains March 2023, which saw just over $9.6 billion in sales, slightly better than the March 2024 number, the second highest number since January 2023, which came in at a tick over $9.35 billion.