ARC Data: International Ticket Sales Up 50% Over 2021 for June

On Thursday, the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC) released data for travel agency air ticket sales in June, and the data showed some more encouraging trends for travel advisors and agency owners.

Perhaps the biggest, is that international travel continues its strong recovery—total passenger trips settled by ARC in June was 7.9 million, a 52% year-over-year increase from the same time period in 2021. That outpaced the domestic ticket sales trend, which increase 11% to 13.7 in June 2022.

The international travel increase came after the lifting of the U.S.’s inbound testing requirement, which was dropped earlier in the month.

In total, ARC-accredited travel agency air ticket sales reached $7.9 billion in June 2022, an 87% year-over-year increase from June 2021, another bullish sign for the travel industry.

The seasonal decline in ticket sales, which usually is somewhere between 8% and 12% from May to June, was muted this year with total sales and passenger trips only down 6% and 5%, respectively.

“In pre-pandemic years, we typically saw an 8-12% decline in total sales and passenger trips from May to June,” said Steve Solomon, vice president of global customers and data products at ARC. 

“The smaller month-over-month decline in total sales and passenger trips shows air travel demand remains strong for both domestic and international itineraries.”

When it comes to pricing, the average U.S. round-trip air travel ticket price was $605 in June 2022, a 33% year-over-year increase from 2021, but down 4% from May 2022, an encouraging sign for consumers who are still dealing with inflation. Recent survey data, and commentary from industry experts, showed that while consumers weren’t deciding against travel because of the rising cost, it was still somewhat a cause for concern.