While nearly half of all recently surveyed Results! Travel’s members expressed some concern about the impact the economy could have on their businesses throughout 2008, cruise sales and all-inclusive resort sales provide a silver lining. A majority of agents reported sales of those products up or even compared to the same period of 2007.
“With the economy, additional fuel surcharges, airline capacity reductions and other financial pressures facing agencies and consumers at large, there’s no glossing over the significant challenges facing individual agency owners,” said Results! Travel General Manager John Risner. “Agency owners are looking for ways to replace the business they might lose, and that’s where we step in.
The census– the agency group's second– offers what amounts to a mid-year state of the industry update, Results! Travel believes.
The survey was conducted during May 2008. About 40 percent of the network’s 900 locations participated.
In the survey, agencies were asked to compare 2008 sales to the same time last year:
Cruise: 75 percent reported sales up or even, 25 percent reported lower.
All-inclusive: 74 percent reported sales up or even, 26 percent reported lower
Hotel: 72 percent reported sales up or even, 28 percent reported lower.
Car: 73 percent reported sales up or even, 29 percent reported lower
Air: 54 percent reported sales up or even; 46 percent reported lower.
On average, agency owners stated that two-thirds (66 percent) of their revenue is accounted for by supplier commissions. The rest typically comes from service fees. Less than half of agency owners (49 percent) say they pay their employees strictly by salary. 37 percent pay employees a combination of salary and commission, while 14 percent are completely commission-based. Nearly all (95.7 percent) said they would recommend membership in Results! Travel to another agency.
Results! Travel is part of The Travel Franchise Group. Visit www.resultstravel.com.