Over half of travel agents are over the age of 55, according to a new survey by Hot Travel Jobs. According to preliminary results from the new Travel Industry in 2017 report, 51 percent of travel agents surveyed by the travel industry job board are 55 years of age or older.
36 percent of respondents to the Hot Travel Jobs survey were between the ages of 45 and 54, while 13 percent were spread over the 18 – 45 year old age range. Only 3 percent were in the 20 – 35 age bracket.
“This follows with our previous studies, showing an industry back-loaded with seasoned professionals, but with a lack of in-coming talent,” Hot Travel Jobs wrote in a statement announcing the results.
The 2016 survey from Hot Travel Jobs, which was released last year, found that 89.9 percent of corporate travel agents had over 17 years of experience in the travel industry, as opposed to only 2.01 percent of those with six to 10 years of experience. The gap was smaller for leisure travel, with 71.17 percent of leisure travel agents having over 17 years of experience, and 9.9 percent having six to 10 years of experience. Overall, travel agents’ plans for retirement were up 19 percent in last year’s survey.
“The age bracket of the employees in the industry is a very important data set, as we benchmark this to understand the percentage of people retiring over the next few years and the staffing requirement to replace them,” Hot Travel Jobs said.
Salary data from this year’s survey will be released shortly.
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