2024 ASTA Legislative Day Updates & Recap!
Hey there! You might be surprised to run into a mostly blank blog post! No, I'm not taking minimalism too seriously . . . I'm just getting game-ready to hit up ASTA's Legislative Day, which (at the time of writing this) starts tomorrow!!!
You can come here to check out updates! I'll pop in to tell you day by day with event summaries, which issues advisors are brining to the in 2024, what it's like to be a deer-in-headlights first-timer at Legislative Day, and how these issues translate for every day advisors like YOU!
Spoiler alert! Most advisors are NOT here for their love of policy! They are here for their love of the industry. The good thing is our delegations are the trusty hands of ASTA who take the time to educate advisors on the issues, how to tie them to your personal story, and how to communicate those stories with congress!
Here are shortcuts to summaries of events!
Day 1 -Travel Industry Forecast at the National Press Club
Day 2 - Beginners Training & Issues Training
Day 3 - Advocacy Day!
So STAY TUNED and come back tomorrow when the event kicks off in earnest! In the meantime, ASTA's latest data on the travel advisor to whet your appetite!
Day 1 - Travel Industry Forecast at the National Press Club
First, let me say that going to the National Press Club is a pretty big deal in and of itself. It’s a great way to prime advisors on the ASTA’s Legislative Day initiatives for a big-picture industry look.
I’ll continue to flesh this out throughout the conference itself as I snag some time. But here’s a few highlights.
Introductory Speech - Zane Kirby President & CEO at ASTA
Zane Kirby kicked it off with some pretty juicy data-driven overview. Here’s a few takeaways:
- Advisor segment is growing:
- The travel advisors’ market share is expected to reach 26% by 2026 from 21% in 2022. What is this in dollars?
- In 2023 travel agencies made 115B in gross leisure bookings to 141.3B in 2026 (according to an ASTA and Phocuswright survey).
- Travelers are spending more and advisors are seeing increases in bookings:
- A family of 4 spends an average of $14,000 on a 7-day vacation.
- What does this mean for advisors? 60% have seen an increase in all-inclusives, 70% for ocean cruises, and 80% for river cruises. (This also reflects HAR’s most recent data where 80% of hosted advisors reported an increase in sales in 2023.)
Nothing like a great crop of data to kick off the event! Listen to the full introductory speech below!
IN AN AI-DOMINATED LANDSCAPE, WHY DO YOU STILL NEED A TRAVEL ADVISOR?
- Jackie Friedman VTA, CTIE, ASTA’s Board Chair and President of Nexion
- Wayne Muhlstein, Wayne Traveler, an affiliate of McCabe World Travel (Virtuoso)
- Julie Redfern, Avid Traveler and Client of Wayne
- Dr. Terika L. Haynes, DBA, MHA, FACHE, Founder & CEO, Dynamite Travel (Signature)
- Eboni N. Moss, Avid Traveler and Client of Terika
This discussion centered around the necessity of a travel advisor during an AI renaissance. It reminded me a lot of the decades-old conversation about OTA’s perceived threat to advisors.
Being a successful travel advisor isn't just about knowledge; it's about building client relationships based on trust, experience, and a strong network. Things AI simply can not provide.
So who better to hear about the value of travel advisors than the clients they serve? Eboni Moss had been a client of Dr. Terika L. Haynes since she started her agency, Dynamic Travel, 16 years ago.
When avid traveler Julie Redfern spoke about the value of working with Wayne to plan her travel over the years she said that advisors have “the knowledge providing an experience you never knew was possible.”
Eboni talked about how this wealth of knowledge is rooted in experience, “she’s been to places I want to go. She’s speaking from experience.”
But there’s so much more that AI can’t do. They can’t save a traveler endless time using AI to try and plan an itinerary; they can’t qualify destinations or products based on clients’ specific needs; they can’t get on a phone with a vendor who is dragging their feet on issuing a refund when something goes wrong.
Listen to the rest of what the panel had to say (it’s jam-packed with really great nuggets of wisdom!).
Day 2 - Beginners Training & Issues Training
Day 3 - Advocacy Day!
