More than a third of American premium travelers prefer to use advisor services when flying internationally, according to recent study data from Voyagu. 31% of 2,050 American premium travelers who had booked an overseas flight at least once in the previous six months who were surveyed by Voyagu, an AI-powered travel management platform and marketplace, said they preferred to work with advisors.
A research of affluent, U.S.-based international travelers aged 40 to 75 with net worth’s starting at USD 2 million was carried out from June to November 2022. All of the respondents normally book several flights a year and had all recently made an international flight reservation. In a given year, 57.4% of travelers scheduled between 2 and 5 flights, 33% only one, and 5.1% five or more. One flight was taken by the remaining 4.5% every several years.
The poll respondents agreed that, in addition to the advantage of better pricing, receiving personal help and knowledgeable handling of unforeseen developments throughout the trip is one of the key reasons they employ a travel adviser. When the price is equivalent, 31% strongly prefer to book through a travel agent, even if the share of online self-service booking is still quite high at 69% and airline website bookings at 41.6%.
The study also found that the desire to book with a travel advisor is gender-neutral and that there are no particular differences in choosing a travel advisor when it comes to frequency and reasons for travel. The research results are consistent with those of another recent survey conducted by ALG Vacations, which revealed that 57% of American adults think it would be advantageous to have a professional handle unforeseen vacation concerns. According to the survey, 54% of Generation Xers (aged 42 to 57) and 48% of Baby Boomers (aged 58 to 75) would also be amenable to receiving professional assistance.
According to Ivan Saprov, CEO and creator of Voyagu, “As travel demand shows no signs of lessening, the job of agents is growing more important, shifting from a booking assistant into a travel-savvy expert who provides helpful advice as well as immediate trip support and management.” “The idea that having an advisor will raise the cost of the trip is a widespread one. Travelers can benefit from crucial advising services for the same or even cheaper costs than if they were arranging the trip on their own if agents’ typical chores are automated by computer solutions.
In the United States, the market for travel agencies was worth USD 38.65 billion in 2021, and it is anticipated to grow to USD 48.53 billion in 2022. International travel by Americans and a medium-low growth risk score are the main favorable elements influencing this sector. Key elements affecting the travel agency sector’s earnings include patterns of Americans making overnight travels within the country for leisure, business, or other reasons.