Travel Weekly Digital Edition

For the love of the game

W

e are starting to get some credible figures that may serve to
help us understand where the retail travel agent commu-
nity stands at this moment. Join me as we step back and
look at ourselves, our “old” selves.

We know that a whole lot of us have stopped paying rent to the shopping center landlord, preferring to pay a lower rent to the host agency. Or some of us simply work out of that spare bedroom the kids don’t use anymore.

We know that home-based agents are real and they are a force — and that they sell far less on a per-person basis than the average Girl Scout during the annual cookie sale.

We know that the cruise industry is so integral to the success of the retail community that a serious event at sea could have a crippling effect on the short-term survival of many agencies.

But the results of the new ASTA survey of its membership points to some trends that are worthy of further examination.

The first thing you learn from this study is that we are all getting old. How old? Eighty-eight percent of us are over the age of 44. But 40% of us are over 55, and that number is climbing.

That means that unless there is a major pattern shift, it won’t be very long before nearly half of all travel agents are just a few years away from getting mailings from AARP. And I have always believed that we all ought to be on AARP’s mailing list. Those folks warrant watching.

There are those who wring their hands at the failure of our industry to attract the young. I am not one who loses sleep over the lack of youth in our business. The only thing a young travel consultant can do for me is introduce me to older travel consultants with some history and some destinations under their belt.

I don’t mind young surgeons. Perhaps they have been exposed to new techniques

than larger agencies.

The survey talked about what we sell. The largest single category is “tour packages,” at 31%. The term, of course, includes any number of products, from a three-day experience at Hedonism to an escorted tour of the world’s loveliest gardens by private jet.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of the average agency mix is fully escorted tours. Take that out, and the 26% of agency business that is cruises changes everything.

Air sales are half of what they were in 2000, when they accounted for 50% of total agency sales.

But the really good news is that just under 60% of us actually managed to make a profit in 2006, a time of stock market gains and a spurt in travel abroad.

When you do even the most rudimentary analysis of this business, you must be drawn to the conclusion that majority of its practitioners do it mostly for the love of the game.

and machinery at medical school my old doc knows nothing about.

But I just don’t have that same feeling about recent travel school graduates when compared with some 60-year-old destination specialist who lives and breathes, say, Africa as a speciality. I do be- Richard Turen lieve that it ought to be illegal for anyone under 27 to advise anyone over 40 about where and how they should spend the most important moments of their lives.

The ASTA survey also showed that most of us ancients are still in “ brick-and-mortar” agencies, about 75% of us.

Of course that’s only brick-and-mortar buildings. I suspect that when you add in those travel agents who work in buildings made of wood or aluminum siding, the figure would be much higher.

The majority of us just sort of get by. We’re no world beaters, and we don’t enjoy the responsibility of large payrolls. Fifty-three percent of ASTA members this year report total gross sales of less then $2 million.

About half of these agencies do less then $1 million. They are the travel tinkers.

Only 9% of us do more than $10 million. There is a rather big shift in the growth of those who sell more than $5 million annually. That figure has grown about 2% a year since 2000 and is now at about 19%.

By my defini-

tion, four out of every five agencies is small, under $5 million. Of course, as any of the large players will tell you, these small agencies that don’t sell air, have found a niche and make at least 15% commission may be making a far higher percentage of profit

E-mail: To contact most Travel Weekly staffers, type their first initial and last name, followed by @ travelweekly.com. Phone (headquarters): (201) 902-2000 Fax (headquarters): (201) 902-2034 VICE PRESIDENT/EDITOR IN CHIEF: ARNIE WEISSMANN EDITOR: ROB FIXMER MANAGING EDITOR: REBECCA TOBIN

EDITOR/NEWS & OPINION:
Bill Poling (202) 429-9030; Fax (202) 429-9054
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR:
Gerry Bourbeau
MANAGING EDITOR/SUPPLEMENTS:
Margaret Myre
EDITOR/DESTINATIONS:
Kenneth Kiesnoski
CREATIVE DIRECTOR:
Kent M.C. Lau

REALITY CHECK

•

I had promised, dear readers, to let you know if the Kent family made their tight connection in Paris, as assigned by Royal Caribbean’s air scheduling software [“Blind faith,” May 21].

The Kents, flying back to Chicago, made their flight due to a delay out of Paris. They literally had to run to make it. Their mother, who was traveling with them, didn’t run, and missed her connection to New York.

As for the luggage, sure enough, two of the family members had missing suitcases when they arrived home. The luggage has since been found and returned.

SENIOR EDITORS: Michelle Baran (Tour Operators) Jeri Clausing (Hotels & Hospitality) (720) 379-8123 Andrew Compart (Aviation, ARC, DOT) (202) 429-9033; Fax (202) 429-9054

Johanna Jainchill (Cruise, Alaska)
Jerry Limone (Copy Desk)
Michael Milligan (Government, General
Assignment) (202) 429-9038;
Fax (202) 429-9054
Gay Nagle Myers (Caribbean)
Dennis Schaal (Technology, Business Travel,
Israel)
Kimberly Scholz (Familiarization Trips),
Fax (201) 902-2034

EDITORS-AT-LARGE:

Nadine Godwin (New York, Retail)

(212) 452-7819

Dan Luzadder (Business) (303) 670-9303

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Theresa Bednarczyk

ART DIRECTORS: Romina Paludi, Thoralf Tollefsen DESIGNER: Thomas Lechleiter

CREATIVE CONSULTANT: J.C. Suarès

Contributing editor Richard Turen owns Churchill and Turen, a vacation-planning company, and has been named to Conde Nast’s list of the World’s Top Travel Specialists since the list began. Contact him at rturen@ travelweekly.com.

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Dean Blaine, Mark Chesnut, Harvey Chipkin, Laura Del Rosso, Bob Joselyn, Felicity Long, Kristin O’Meara Hillmann, Joe Rosen, Allan Seiden, Jorge Sidron, Richard Turen

TRAVELWEEKLY.COM:

MANAGING EDITOR: Kimberly Scholz WEB SERVICES MANAGER: Linda Buchanan WEB ADMINISTRATOR: Karen Nyland ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS MANAGER: Neal Tornopsky

cases you make the connection; however, there is a good chance your checked baggage is left behind.

As someone who has been in the business for many years, Turen could have written a much better article: He spent almost all of his time on the problem and not on the solution. Would I want him as my travel agent? Maybe.

Stuart Hartzell, President Griffin International

St. Louis

LETTERS

As a travel consultant, I appreciate that [Turen’s column] shows why the people part of the equation is so important.

I sure hope the Kents put their itinerary in the luggage so it would get to them eventually.

Thanks for a piece I can use to help clients understand when I say, “I think you should book independent air because ...”

Jani Doctor

Terra Mar Travel Hemet, Calif.

Editor’s note: Columnist Richard Turen told Travel Weekly readers he would let them know what happened to the Kent family as they tried to make a short connection in Paris. Read his Reality Check column on this page to find out.

Please send letters for publication to Travel Weekly, attn: Letters Editor, 100 Lighting Way, Secaucus, N.J., 07094, or e-mail them to TWletters@travelweekly.com. Travel Weekly reserves the right to edit all letters for length and to conform to our style and standards.

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR: Michele M. Garth

PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS: Adrian Carbunescu, Lisa Gonzales

GROUP CIRCULATION DIRECTOR: Simon Young PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Robert Brai TRAVEL WEEKLY MARKETING: DIRECTOR, N.C. OPERATIONS & MARKETING: Cindy D. Sheaffer