Amadeus Survey Finds Travel Agents Optimistic about Future

Amadeus has announced the results of its recent survey inviting North American travel agents to share their outlook on the travel industry and how emerging trends are poised to reshape their business as the economy begins to recover.

Almost 800 travel professionals responded to the 16-question Amadeus survey conducted online from Feb. 12 to 19, 2010. According to Tom Cates, chief commercial officer for Amadeus, one of the key survey outcomes is that, even in the face of current marketplace challenges, North American travel professionals are optimistic about the future -- for their own business as well as for the industry overall.

According to Cates, one of the key survey outcomes is that, even in the face of current marketplace challenges, North American travel professionals are optimistic about the future -- for their own business as well as for the industry overall.

The second trend focuses on the increased role of technology throughout the journey, from the trip planning phase through arrival back home. Travel professionals feel additional opportunity exists for technology to further improve the travel experience in areas including researching the trip (64.6 percent) and finding pricing/availability information (55.8 percent).

They also expect next-generation travelers to get more “social.” Social networking (47.5 percent) tops the list of what travel agents feel will have the greatest impact on how tomorrow’s travelers research and book travel, followed by user generated reviews (19.8 percent). Agents are responding to social media’s rise, with more than half (55.7 percent) indicating that they or their agencies are active in online social channels.

The third trend, the growth of niche travel, relates not only to the specialty travel focus of agents, but also selling other niche services which may present profitable opportunities. When it comes to the niche and specialty area of travel, professionals see major opportunities in family-friendly travel (59.9 percent), weddings (47.6 percent), and adventure travel (36.8 percent). But agents see little or no promise in other areas such as selling travel goods (56.5 percent) or air charters (54.6 percent).

The majority of survey respondents described themselves as travel agency owners/managers (41.3 percent), travel agents (26 percent), home-based agents (23.4 percent), and independent consultants (9.3 percent). The respondents reported they focus primarily on leisure/destination travel (72.2 percent) and work in the U.S. (93.7 percent).