Yes, hosted advisors are our bread and butter, but we don't want to leave our fellow travel agency employees behind! Now, more than ever, there is tons of flexibility for travel advisor employees in terms of hybrid work locations and work roles. 

This report will address issues specific to travel advisor employees including income structures, fee policies, benefits and more! Here's a peek!

Here's what you'll find in the summary:

⭐️ HAR ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS! ⭐️

• The Travel Advisor Employee, 2023: Report Summary
• Thank You!
• Something for Everyone: How Travel Industry Professionals Can Use HAR's Data
• Agency Owners
• Suppliers, DMOs, and DMCs
• Purchase the full report!

The Travel Advisor Employee, 2023: Report Summary

This section is excerpted from the Introduction & Executive Summary of HAR's full report!

The survey was conducted in 2024, with income and fee data reflecting the full 2023 cale ndar year. In addition to looking at income fees, demographics, operations, host relationships, and the new hosted advisors segment, this year HAR has expanded its survey to include media consumption.

Additionally, 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” projected 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 this growth? The 2311 respondents to HAR’s survey reported producing nearly $2 billion in sales. This translated to 207,911 bookings for solo advisors in 2023. (We did not ask for total agency booking numbers in the survey . . . stay tuned for next year!)

For travel agency employees, this growth translated to income gains. In 2023, employees experienced a significant 30% income growth from 2022 ($72,442 vs. $51,727 respectively).

HAR offers reports on three different segments; travel agency employees, independent advisors, and employees (there wasn't sufficient data to compile a report on franchise owners in 2024).

This report focuses on travel agency employees.

Executive Summary

Of the 2311 total travel advisors who completed HAR's 2024 Travel Advisor survey, 6% were travel agency employees.

Here's the travel agency employee segment at a glance.

Income surged for employees in 2023. An overwhelming majority, 91%, of employees reported a sales increase in 2023 (6% reported “no sales increase” and 3% were “N/A or unsure”).

Experienced employees saw a 19% income gain from $51,727 in 2022 to $61,526 in 2023. (This is a 10% increase in income compared to pre-COVID 2019 income ($55,773).

Below, the graph looks at income by experience range, illustrating the average annual income for full-time and part-time advisors.

It’s no surprise that employees who worked full-time hours and had more experience also earned the highest incomes. Notably, experienced full-time employees earned 2.5 more than their less experienced peers.

Income overview for travel agency employees

While there was insufficient data to breakdown income by experience and work hours, it’s clear these factors led to more income. (Check the report’s the income section for a deeper exploration.)

However, a bird’s eye view of employee income doesn’t represent an accurate picture for most employees. Income varies according to job responsibilities, work hours, and compensation structures. With a move toward flexible work schedules, varied responsibilities, and multiple compensation structures, income averages have become less standardized among the employees.

HAR’s report addresses the growing complexity and flexibility of this evolving work culture. The report examines income, fees, and operations trends from myriad vantage points.

Purchase the full report for more critical insights on travel agency employees!

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 2311 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.

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, TaConnect, Travel Leaders Network, Travel Pulse, Uniglobe Travel Center, 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!

Purchase the full report!

If you are an employee who took our survey, you should have received your free respondent copy! (Check your email and spam).

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
• Suppliers, DMOs, and DMCs

Agency Owners

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 employees can:

• Benchmark personal sales and income against current averages, taking into account niche, experience, hours worked, and more
• See where your average sales per booking falls compared to other employees
• Look at wages and salaries based on work responsibilities
• Compare your benefit package to industry averages. 
• Discover employees' favorite sources for trade media
• and more!

Agency owners can:

• Benchmark your employee income and wages to industry averages
• Benchmark sales per booking amounts based on product and niche trends
• Understand what trade media employees rely on
• Compare your company's compensation structures against industry standards
• and more!

Purchase the full report for more critical insights on travel agency employees!

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 employed advisors and may compare them with hosted and independent advisor segments as well.

• Latest niche and product trends among advisor employees.
• A look at emerging trends for niche and products among new advisor employees.
• Average sales per booking for top products & niche
• Where hosted advisors are most strongly 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 bundling all three reports, which include the "Hosted Travel Advisor Report, 2023" and the "Independent Travel Advisor Report, 2023" in addition to the Travel Advisor Employee Report, 2023.

Purchase the full report for more critical insights on travel agency employees!