The Independent Travel Advisor Research Report Summary, 2024
Host Agency Reviews' annual Travel Advisor Survey captures the latest trends and data on an elusive yet growing travel advisor segment . . . the independent travel advisor. While income has stabilized, 2024 marked notable trends among independent advisors.
The independent segment is younger, with the median age dropping to 55 (from 60 last year). Experience levels also indicated a newer segment; advisors with 15+ years of experience dropped nine points from last year. This was countered with a four-point increase among new advisors (0-2 years of experience).
But a younger and less experienced segment did not come at the cost financial success. In 2024:
- Full-time advisors earned $78,940 on average, surpassing 2019 pre-pandemic benchmarks to the tune of 32%.
- 69% charged professional fees for their expertise.
- 63% took on independent contractors (ICs) and/or employees, earning 43% higher income than solo advisors.
The preview below offers at taste of what the full report offers.
Want to check out the rest? Of course you do! Below, we've put together a brief excerpt of the full report. A little taster of our full 82-page 2024 Independent Travel Advisor Report!
⭐️ 2024 INDEPENDENT TRAVEL ADVISOR SUMMARY Highlights: ⭐️
The Independent Travel Advisor, 2024: Report Summary
- Income by experience
- From hosted to independent
- A look at primary vs. supplemental income for hosted advisors
How Travel Industry Pros Can Use HAR's Data
The 2024 Independent Travel Advisor Report Summary
About HAR's Survey
While the survey was conducted in 2024, the income and fee data reflect the full 2023 calendar year.
In addition to looking at income fees, demographics, operations, host relationships, and the new independent advisors segment, this year HAR has expanded its survey to include an expanded section on advisors’ technology usage and media consumption.
The 2023 timeframe of the data tells a story of tempered growth for advisors' income and sales. This leveling income trajectory reflects a travel market that has let off steam from pent-up demand for travel in 2021 and 2022.
The pandemic shakeup left travel advisors with a larger piece of the pie in terms of travel market share. Phocuswright's recent “U.S. Travel Agency Landscape” projects that the "Travel agency share of the total travel market will rise to 26% in 2026 from 21% in 2022."
How did the advisors who completed HAR’s survey factor into the market share? The 2063 advisors who completed HAR's survey reported producing over 2 billion in agency sales and generating 207,911 bookings for suppliers in 2023.
HAR offers reports on three different segments: hosted advisors, independent advisors, and employees (there wasn't sufficient data to compile a report on franchise owners in 2023). This report focuses on independent advisors.
A note on how we look at income in our full report
HAR's reports focus on advisors who are active in the industry. For experienced advisors (3+ years), we report on income among those earning at least $5,000 in annual commissions, the same threshold used by IATA and CLIA for their professional identification cards.
Executive Summary
Of the 2063 travel advisors who completed HAR's 2024 Travel Advisor survey, 11% (247) were independent advisors.
The snapshot below offers an overview of sales and income for experienced independent advisors.
An overwhelming majority, 78% of independent advisors, reported a sales increase in 2023. (17% reported “no sales increase” and 5% were “N/A or unsure.”) This translated to $724,706 in average individual sales for FT experienced advisors and $243,464 for PT experienced advisors.
Income experienced a modest 4% increase from $68,307 in 2023 to $71,315 in 2024.
Below, the graph looks at income by experience range, illustrating the average annual income for full-time independent advisors (we did not have enough data for part-time advisors).
From hosted to independent
Over 1/3rd of independent advisors (39%) started their travel career hosted, with most making the transition after 3 years.
Among those who were previously hosted, 15% made the switch to independent in 2023 (up significantly from 4% in 2022). Simultaneously, fewer independent advisors maintained dual relationships with host agencies, dropping two points from 13% in 2022 to 11% in 2023.
This suggests the hosted channel remains a significant entry point to the industry for independent advisors.
Here’s a look at the trends, below.
A look at primary vs. supplemental income for independent advisors
71% of independent advisors reported that selling travel was their primary income (compared to 46% of hosted advisors and 79% of travel advisor employees).
Among advisors who reported they did not sell travel as a primary income source, 43% reported they intended to sell travel as a primary source of personal income in the future.
The majority, 73%, of experienced independent advisors sell travel as a primary source of income, whereas only 25% of new independent advisors do. This suggests that independent advisors are likely to transition to selling travel as a primary source of travel as they gain experience.
How Travel Advisors Can Leverage HAR’s Data
HAR's 2024 independent Travel Advisor Report extends well beyond the purview of income, fees, and demographics. The Independent Advisor Report, 2024 looks at the data behind issues specific to independent advisors including consortia and accreditation trends, technology use, media consumption, and more.
Travel advisors can leverage the data for startup planning, scaling, benchmarking, business planning, fee strategies, and more.
But the data’s relevance extends beyond advisors. Across travel distribution channels such as consortia, tech companies, and travel suppliers, professionals can leverage the data for product development and offers, marketing initiatives, research and development, pricing strategies, growth strategy, market research, and more.
Are you a supplier, DMO, DMC, consortium, or travel tech company? Go here to read up on how you can use HAR's data from the full report!
Gratitude
Every person here at HAR has their hands in the creation of our survey reports! I like to think of our reports as a geeky love letter to the travel advisor industry and their supporters!
The most critical part of our survey is the advisors who take the time out of their ridiculously busy schedules knee-deep in travel rebound bookings to take our survey. . . all 2063 of you! Our survey is in-depth and frankly, we don’t throw softballs. So thank you for busting out your P&Ls, 1099s, and/or digging into the recesses of your memories to contribute to the best industry data out there. You are the pillar of these reports (and keeper of our nerdy, nerdy hearts). And thank you to my fellow HAR-gonauts, Steph Lee, the brainchild of this data party and a major survey collaborator, and to Abbey vonGohren for editing this beast.
Want to participate in our survey next year? Heck yes, you do! You can sign up for our survey reminders here to make sure you know when our next one is live.
This report is not possible without the partners who promote the survey among their networks. 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), Association of Black Travel Professionals (ABTP), BranchUp, Celebrity Cruises, Dugan's Travels LLC, Gifted Travel Network, KHM Travel, MAST Travel Network, Nexion Travel Group, Pickles Travel Network, Signature Travel Network, TaConnect, Travel Leaders Network, Travel Pulse, Uniglobe Travel Center, Virtuoso, and World Via-Travel Quest Network.
Want to add your name to this list of partners? Drop a line at Mary@HostAgencyReviews.com and we’ll chat!
Something for Everyone: How Travel Industry Professionals Can Use HAR's Data
There's a lot of data in our 70+ page research report. We have a few ideas on how you can leverage it to glean insights most relevant to your corner of the industry. Here's a few shortcuts with tips on how to use the report data depending on where you're positioned in the industry:
Agency Owners (SOLO & those with ICs and/or employees)
Agencies and their advisors are at the heart of HAR's "Hosted Travel Advisor Report, 2023." Regardless of the size of your agency—whether you're a solo advisor or have dozens (or hundreds) of ICs and/or employees—the report is rife with data for advisors at all stages of the game, from starting up to scaling big.
Solo advisors and agency owners can:
- Benchmark personal sales and income against current averages, taking into account niche, experience, hours worked, and more
- Use the data to project future sales and income goals
- Gain an understanding of income potential (or average income) by niche and product
- See where your average sales per booking falls compared to the industry at large
- Make data-backed decisions on fee amounts by comparing them to industry medians
- Use demographic and regional data to see what can set an advisor apart in terms of client reach
- Compare your host agency commission split to the latest industry standards
- Find the travel tech that most advisors are using
- Discover why advisors leave their consortia
- and more!
Additionally, agencies with ICs (or hoping to host or hire advisors) can:
- Benchmark personal income based on IC volume
- Benchmark sales per booking amounts based on product and niche trends
- Understand what technologies hosted advisors use, and when they use tools provided by their host agency versus supplying their own instead of (or in addition to) a host's tools
- Explore which consortia independent advisors gravitate toward
- Discover which accreditations independent advisors are using
- and more!
Consortia & Travel orgs
With the majority of hosted respondents (85%), our Independent Travel Advisor Report 2024 is a treasure trove of information for host agencies and consortia alike. HAR's research report data can help host agencies and consortia in many ways:
- Competitive intelligence (e.g. using the data to help clarify your unique selling point as a consortium to inform your marketing initiatives)
- Informing your resource development for your advisors (e.g. offering a concrete guide to standard fees)
- Discover where the highest concentration of independent advisors resides to inform your outreach strategy
- Understanding how independent advisors as a segment perceive consortia relationships to anticipate needs for new and experienced advisors alike
- and more!
Suppliers, DMOs, and DMCs
HAR's research report provides a rare opportunity for suppliers, DMOs, and DMCs to look at the latest trends in products and niches among independent advisors. Here's how your organization benefit from this report:
- Illustrates trends among a very experienced travel advisor segment.
- Find concrete data on the independent advisor's growth potential.
- Understand what technology independent advisors use.
Additionally, the research report looks at product trends in myriad ways including:
- Income generated by primary niche
- Average sales per booking for top products
- Most common niche and products for advisors overall compared to new advisors
- Where independent advisors are most concentrated
The data offers opportunities to engage in competitive analysis, inform product development and marketing initiatives, guide competitive pricing strategies, and tailor your product offerings.
For suppliers, we recommend the bundle which includes the Hosted Travel Advisor Report, 2024 and the Independent Travel Advisor Report, 2024.
Travel Tech companies
This year we took a closer look at travel tech. In our technology section, professionals can learn from advisors' use of CRM, websites, booking engines, and itinerary builders. In this section, you can:
- Learn about market share for the biggest travel tech play among a diverse cross-section of hosted advisors
- Learn what percentage of agents use booking engines, Websites, CRMS, and Itinerary Builders
- Learn the latest trends as to which products hosted advisors gravitated to in 2023
With this information, you'll be able to track product growth over time among different sectors as we continue to track trends in future surveys. It provides opportunities for competitive analysis, market share among independent advisors, and more.
For tech companies, we recommend the bundle which includes the Hosted Travel Advisor Report, 2024 and the Independent Travel Advisor Report, 2024.
Purchase the Full Report!
We've barely scratched the surface! Purchase the full report for the latest on independent travel advisor trends!
