POSITIVE NUMBERS: Agencies report stronger sales

ASTA reports that travel agency members reported that, for most agencies, 2012 performance was better than 2011. In response to a recent survey, ASTA found that almost half of member agencies saw stronger revenue and transaction volume in 2012, as well as an increase in the number of clients. “Despite the ongoing challenges facing the global economy, ASTA members benefited from the travelling public’s appetite for travel,”said ASTA president Zane Kerby. “Some improvement can be attributed to consumers’ evolving view of travel as a ‘right.’ Recent consumer surveys report that consumer travel behaviour and patterns are less tied to current economic conditions.”Retail Leisure agencies reported the strongest performance gains in 2012. Fifty-four per cent reported increased revenues as compared to 2011. Independent Agents reported the lowest increased revenue (still strong at 45%). When asked about sales per travel segment, agencies reported the biggest increases in sales of air, hotel and insurance as compared to 2011. Segment sales were either flat or increased for the majority of reporting agencies. Overall, a majority of ASTA agencies “realized a profit”in 2012. When agencies were broken out by business type, the highest percentage of profitable agencies was reported in the corporate agency segment.