Can Travel Agents Encourage Travel?

You would think that taking an average of 16.8 days of vacation each year would make Americans well rested and successful in their careers. But according to a recent survey, Americans have a “vacation deficit,” as they worry that relaxing may not be good for their corporate careers.

The survey, by market research firm Global GfK, found that the average American actually earns slightly more than 20 days annually; that means that in total, U.S. workers leave approximately 662 million vacation days and more than $236 billion in leisure travel spend on the table every year.

That additional time off could support nearly two million new American jobs, GfK estimated.

Why would American workers not take a quarter of their earned vacation time? According to the survey, 26% feel it would make them look less dedicated to their employer, while 23% worry about being seen as replaceable in their role. About one in five feel it might cost them a raise or a promotion.

The number of vacation days is down from a high of 20.3 days in the years leading up to 2000, according to GfK.

But American workers may be deceiving themselves. According to GfK, “work martyrs” who sacrificed their vacations days are less likely to have received a raise or bonus in the past three years than those who did not (79% vs. 84%), and equally likely to get a promotion (28% in eith

In short, “the work martyr attitude is not helping anyone get ahead.”

Work martyrs do, however, “earn more stress.” Employees who think it is good to be seen as work martyrs by their boss experience more stress at home (48% to 41%) and at work (73% to 68%) than non-work martyrs.

“We would do better if we learned from the Europeans. They thoroughly enjoy their vacations and use that time well,” said Nina Fogelman, owner of Ancient Summit Inc., in Royal Palm Beach, FL. She’s been specializing in travel to Peru for about 12 years.

Vacation planners (aka travel agents) can help
According to GfK, “the most effective remedy for American workers who want to use more vacation days is better planning. A majority (52%) of workers who say they set aside time each year to plan out their vacation days take all their time off, compared to just 40% of non-planners.”

Planners also tend to take longer vacations, GfK said. While three-in-four (75%) planners take a week or more at a time, non-planners take significantly fewer days—zero to three.

And who better to help the bedraggled American worker to plan a vacation, than vacation planners – aka travel agents?

“I start to explain all of the different areas and wonders to Peru, and tell them to take more time, unless they have to be back by a certain date. Sometimes, like with a lawyer, they say, ‘I’ve got to get back for a case. Save that for the next trip,’ ” said Fogelman.

Loulu Lima, founder at Book Here, Give Here, a travel agency in Austin, TX, said “My biggest thing is to encourage clients to ‘relax, recharge, rejuvenate.’ Our storage tanks run on empty for way too long. If we did that to our cars, we would get stuck. The same thing happens to us. We need to take time to breathe and gas up. Having a parentheses in our everyday grind helps us be healthy.”

“And when we are healthy, we have the strength for the everyday curveballs that are thrown our way,” she said.

GfK conducted the online survey from January 26-February 20, 2017, with 7,331 American workers, age 18+, who work more than 35 hours a week and receive paid time off from their employer. The survey included 2,593 managers who are company decision-makers including 479 senior leaders and 2,083 middle managers.