Travel agency industry - Statistics & Facts

The travel agency industry in the United States is projected to generate 17.3 billion U.S. dollars in revenue by 2020, up from around 15 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 and about 12.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2010. The industry did not only grow in terms of revenue, however, but profits of travel agencies in the United States have also increased annually in recent years. A decade ago, the industry’s average profit-to-revenue ratio came to six percent. This figure is estimated to have doubled to 12 percent by 2015. A 2016 survey of 1,193 travel agents found that on average 78 percent of their revenue was made up by commission, with 22 percent generated by services fees. While many in the travel industry have declared the era of travel agents to be over, recent research shows that travel agents in the United States are reporting an increase in business. In 2015, over 60 percent of travel agents reported an increase in sales over the previous year. The share of travel agents reporting a decrease in sales dropped from 80 percent in 2008 to just 12 percent in 2015.

The marketing methods of travel agencies have changed over the last few years, with many more travel agents using social media as a marketing tool. The most popular platform used for marketing in 2016 was Facebook, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter. Despite improvements in the industry, a 2017 Statista survey found that only 16 percent of respondents who would like to take a spring vacation, would 'certainly' or 'probably' use a travel agency to book a trip.

Travel management, like many things, is becoming increasingly web-based. In 2016, digital travel sales in the United States amounted to 180.6 billion U.S. dollars. This figure was forecasted to exceed 213 billion U.S. dollars by 2020. Such is the success of the online travel market; that the largest travel agency worldwide is the online travel agency (OTA) Expedia, followed by another OTA: the Priceline group. These two OTAs were also some of the preferred agencies of U.S. travelers. A 2017 survey found that 41 percent of travelers stated they would book a trip with Expedia and 24 percent stated they would book with Priceline, ranking them first and third in the survey respectively.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
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Average profit of travel agencies in the U.S.

12%

Share of travel agents who report a decrease in total sales

8%
Industry overview
Average profit of travel agencies in the U.S. 12% People in the U.S. that used travel agent service 14m Share of U.S. home-based travel agents with gross bookings of more than 500 thousand USD 29% Share of traditional travel agents in the U.S. with gross bookings of more than 50 million USD 5%

Sustainable Travel in the U.S. 2017

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Financial performance
Share of travel agents who report a decrease in total sales 8% Share of commissions in U.S. travel agents revenue 78% U.S. is the second largest country in terms of business travel spending 283.62bn USD Global business travel spending growth 6%
Internet & marketing
Internet is most popular source to plan leisure trips 74% Most U.S. travel agencies use email to attract new clients 74% Most U.S. Millennials use user-generated content to plan trips 71.4% U.S. customer satisfaction level of Expedia 78/100 Index Points Expedia's global revenue 10.06bn USD Expedia's U.S. revenue 5.53bn USD

Travel Agencies in the U.S. - Important statistics

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Travel Agencies in the U.S.
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The whole topic in one document

Travel Agencies in the U.S.
  • Edited and prepared
  • Download in PPT/PDF format
  • Instant access
  • From $365
View dossier
Industry overview
Average profit of travel agencies in the U.S. 12% People in the U.S. that used travel agent service 14m Share of U.S. home-based travel agents with gross bookings of more than 500 thousand USD 29% Share of traditional travel agents in the U.S. with gross bookings of more than 50 million USD 5%

Sustainable Travel in the U.S. 2017

Statista Consumer Survey - Survey Data Table
  • All top statistics from our quantitative consumer & expert surveys
  • All study results are available to download in XLS(X) format
  • From $300 per volume of tables
Go to report

Top 100 Companies: Travel & Tourism

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Financial performance
Share of travel agents who report a decrease in total sales 8% Share of commissions in U.S. travel agents revenue 78% U.S. is the second largest country in terms of business travel spending 283.62bn USD Global business travel spending growth 6%
Internet & marketing
Internet is most popular source to plan leisure trips 74% Most U.S. travel agencies use email to attract new clients 74% Most U.S. Millennials use user-generated content to plan trips 71.4% U.S. customer satisfaction level of Expedia 78/100 Index Points Expedia's global revenue 10.06bn USD Expedia's U.S. revenue 5.53bn USD

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