Host Agency Reviews Publishes its Annual Hosted Travel Advisor Report

Minneapolis, Sept 7th, 2023 – Host Agency Reviews recently published its annual Hosted Travel Advisor, 2023 Report. The 70+ page report includes data from 1,700+ hosted advisors, looking at the latest trends among that distribution channel.

Despite lingering pandemic impact (23% of hosted advisors reported their 2022 sales had not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels), hosted travel advisors are accelerating past a recovery mindset. 

"By all accounts, there is more opportunity for advisors right now than I’ve ever seen in my entire 30-plus years in the travel business," said Perry Lungmus, VP of Luxury at Travel Leaders. “Travel sales continue to be very strong; supplier pricing and advisor commissions trends are great.”

Indeed, Host Agency Reviews’ report reflects this rebound. Average income increased 42% over 2021 income. Earnings for the newest advisors* were a quarter of their more experienced peers**, which was fourteen points higher than last year’s results. 

Here’s a few other key takeaways:

• Average annual income for all experienced hosted advisors was $47,179
• 49% of hosted advisors charged a fee
• 34% of all hosted advisors were new-to-industry (<3 years experience)
• 54 was the median age and 5 was the median years of industry experience for hosted advisors
• Ocean cruise was the most popular product sold

This year, Host Agency Reviews has expanded the report scope to include the latest data on technology use and host agency relationships in addition to examining current income, fee, and demographic trends. 

“Hosted advisors are a difficult segment to track. The fragmented nature of the hosted sector makes them underrepresented in conventional third-party sources such as the Bureau of Labor and Statistics or even traditional industry reports,” said Steph Lee, founder of Host Agency Reviews. “With robust participation and support, we explore uncharted territory when it comes to hosted advisor trends. Advisors are generous in the time they invest in taking our comprehensive survey, and the depth of our report—70+ pages—is a reflection of their time investment! Professionals from all sectors can benefit from the data, whether they’re a solo advisor, large agency owner, supplier, DMC or DMO, travel tech company, or a host agency or consortium.” 

This report is not possible without HAR’s partners. We want to extend a colossal thank you to the industry partners who support our data shenanigans here at Host Agency Reviews: American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), Adventure Travel and Trade Association (ATTA), BranchUp, Celebrity Cruises, Dugan's Travels LLC, Destination Wedding & Honeymoon Specialist Association (DWHSA), Fora Travel, Gifted Travel Network, Independent by Flight Centre, KHM Travel, MAST Travel Network, Nexion Travel Group, Montecito Village Travel, Outside Agents, Pickles Travel Network, TaConnect, Travel Leaders Network, Travel Pulse, and Uniglobe Travel Center!

Host Agency Reviews’ reports Independent Advisor Report and Travel Advisor Employee Report will be published in the coming weeks. A full list of reports can be found here. You may sign up for survey reminders below to be notified when the reports are published!

*Hosted advisors with fewer than 3 years of industry experience 

**Hosted advisors who have 3+ years of experience

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Host Agency Reviews® is an independent website connecting travel agents to leading industry resources. With 230+ combined host, franchise, and consortium profiles and 4,400+ reviews, it's the largest directory for agents on the web. Founder and former host agency director, Steph Lee, started Host Agency Reviews in 2012 to provide critical support for travel professionals to start and grow their agencies. Since then, the HAR team has expanded the site to include a robust industry blog, a free weeklong travel agency startup program, the Travel Agent Chatter quarterly podcast, Friday 15 weekly Q&A live stream, and a 7 Day Setup Accelerator course for launching a travel agency. In 2020, HAR launched Host Week, a free annual event to recognize and amplify independent advisors and the hosts, franchises, and consortia that support them. Oh, and we like to have fun. Lots of fun. :)