TRAVEL
INDUSTRY
SURVEY
REALITIES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
port they expect to boost their cruise
sales in the coming year, reflecting
more optimism about the cruise segment than any other supplier group.
Also, only 22% of agents expect
their air sales to increase, a significant
drop from the 40% recorded a year
ago.
Within the air sector, however, four
in 10 agents expect to see increased
sales on low-fare carriers (Fig. 15).
SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS
Although most airlines have discontinued base commissions at the
point of sale, about a third of agencies report they receive overrides or
incentive commissions from one or
more airlines (Page 12, Fig. 13). Predictably, the likelihood of having an
airline incentive deal increases with
agency size. Among agents reporting
annual sales of $10 million or more,
nearly six in 10 say they have an incentive or override deal.
Even the smallest home-based
agencies get some share of this benefit, probably through hosts in many
Figure 14
Fam trips
Overrides/incentives
Email
Educational seminars
Agency or supplier websites
Total
56%
51%
47%
45%
36%
Importance of Support Services from Travel Suppliers
Traditional agencies
$1M to $3M $3M to $10M
54% 54%
60% 65%
44% 39%
41% 43%
39% 38%
Less than $1M
60%
50%
51%
43%
29%
$10M or more
53%
65%
38%
43%
33%
Home-based agents
Less than $50K $50K to $250K $250K or more
55% 57% 58%
24% 33% 43%
62% 53% 49%
47% 62% 50%
37% 41% 45%
From Sea to Shining Sea
