Travel Weekly - May 22, 2017

DATA FROM ARC AND AAA SUPPORTS ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE FROM RETAILERS All signs point to a robust year for most travel industry sectors By Jamie Biesiada

Thanks to the efforts of ASTA and media relations teams at major consortia, the presence of agents and agency networks in consumer media articles has been steadily on the rise over the last few years, a trend most say is unlikely to stop.

“We can feel the momentum building,”
said Erika Richter, director of communica-
tions for ASTA. “We’re flipping the script
and changing the tone of the conversation,
because, now more than ever, the consum-
er needs to know about the humble travel
agent, the truest advocate a traveler could
ever have.”
According to Richter, the number of men-
tions the Society has generated in main-
stream consumer media — ranging from
USA Today to the Boston Globe to the New
York Times — has risen steadily from last
year to this year. In 2016, there were 17. In
2017, as of mid-April, ASTA mentions had
risen to nearly 30.

Last year, the Society began ramping up its consumer awareness initiatives, said president and CEO Zane Kerby. Exposure to consumer media was also given a kick-start, thanks to funding from ASTA’s budget and the Chapter Presidents Council.

“Success breeds success,” Kerby said. “The
more we get our names out there, the more
[we] become known as a thought leader in
the travel industry.”
Jay Ellenby, ASTA’s chairman and the

CHEAP POND HOPPERS

No, you’re not imagining it: Media are expanding their reporting on agents

By Jamie Biesiada

From a projected increase in Americans traveling this Memorial Day weekend to a steady growth in air travel, all signs are pointing to a very healthy industry, one of the most robust that some executives say they have seen.

“If I look at this historically, I think we are
currently at one of the healthiest times we
have ever been at on the leisure side of the
business.” said Scott Koepf, senior vice presi-
dent of sales at Avoya Travel.

Consumer confidence, an end to uncertainty surrounding the 2016 election and pent-up demand for travel are among the factors contributing to that health.

“If you combine all of that into one big
batch,” said Bill Sutherland, AAA’s senior vice
president of travel and publishing, “it ends
up being the perfect storm leading in the di-
rection of a very healthy 2017.”
AAA last week released its annual Memo-
rial Day weekend travel forecast, which antic-
ipates that travel during the holiday weekend,
May 25 to 29, will hit its highest level since
2005: 39.3 million Americans are expected to