New research: High-end travellers returning to travel agents

New research: High-end travellers returning to travel agents

New research has revealed that travel agents are facing a comeback – in the US at least – and from the high-end jetsetting crowd.

According to a report in Forbes.com, consumers are looking for searching for unique experiences – aka more Instagram worthy moments – and higher-end more affluent travellers want travel agents to make it all happen.

The paper quotes a survey from Yougov, noting that 95% of a group called “Extraordinary Travelers” said travel agents were Extremely/Very Influential in hotel selection. Of the same group, 94% said their agents have a similar influence on cruise selection and 79% on booking flights.

High end experiences are sending travellers back into travel agencies.

High end experiences are sending travellers back into travel agencies.

“Extraordinary Travelers are going beyond experiential travel to focus on transformational travel, a significant move that could have implications for how travel suppliers develop products in the future,” Yougov clarified.

To fit the above definition,the Forbes article claims, you would have needed to take a “private jet vacation,” and the group had an average household income of US$968,000 and liquid assets (stock and cash) of US$16.5 million.

According to one travel industry source quoted in the article, the reason high-end travellers sought agents advice, and in return, why agents had such a strong influence on their decisions was because people wanted experiences and access, and the reason they go to travel agents is because they don’t know how to achieve these themselves. Plus, “they are not going to agents to book air and hotels, but to get treated very treated well.”

Latest News

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]