Today’s Travel Advisor Is Evolving — But Supplier Support Remains Critical

Travel advisors today are at a crossroads: technology innovation is outpacing adoption, yet human relationships — both with clients and with suppliers — remain as important as ever. And while Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gradually changing advisor workflows, time-consuming tasks like researching itineraries and comparing prices remain significant challenges.

These are the findings of Travel Market Report’s Outlook on the Modern Travel Advisor, 2026, published today. The Outlook focuses on the preferences, challenges and opportunities of today’s travel advisors, from technology use to factors influencing supplier selection, to feedback on training programs.

TMR‘s inaugural Outlook on the Modern Travel Advisor is based on insights from over 700 travel advisors in the U.S. and Canada, who were surveyed in April and May of this year by VIDEC Consultants. The research found that over half of the advisors surveyed (54%) are comfortable using AI tools, but the majority (85%) prefer human support over automation or building relationships with clients.

The Outlook also looks at how, and why, travel advisors choose suppliers to work with. Supplier support was a significant factor when determining which travel companies to book with: Strong customer support and faster issue resolution (34%) and easy-to-use booking platforms and reservation systems (28%) were the leading factors influencing supplier selection.

Overall, the Outlook serves as a reminder that relationship-building remains the backbone of the travel industry. No matter how advanced technology gets, clients will still look to people they trust for expertise and personal recommendations, and advisors will still look to suppliers with human support agents for resolving critical issues.

Travel Market Report’s Outlook on the Modern Travel Advisor, 2026 is now available to access online, along with past TMR Outlooks, whitepapers, and guides.