Many wealthy individuals still prefer to use travel agents, even amidst the advent of sophisticated online travel sites and mobile apps that make communicating with a live person for travel needs seem obsolete.
About a third of high-net-worth individuals prefer to use travel agents, according to a new travel industry survey. Meanwhile, the number of travel agents working full time has dropped almost in half to 70,000 since 2000, according to government labor statistics. Microsoft founded Expedia in 1996 and by the turn of the century a raft of competitors began online travel sites.
It’s no wonder so many travel agents have been forced out of jobs: The process of communicating with an agent, expressing needs, have those needs understood and met, and then the inevitable back-and-forth over preferred times, pricing and amenities, etc., seems woefully inefficient, especially when, at the click of few buttons, you can have itineraries, choices and prices presented to you via computer or mobile device.
Yet, “high-net-worth travelers love their travel agents,” says the Travel Market Report. It cites data from Skift, a travel industry publisher, that show 10 percent of high-net-worth individuals exclusively use a travel agent when planning a trip, and 26 percent use a travel agent often.
Travel Market Report says that over the past decade travel agents have focused more on luxury travel. Many travel agents catering to HNWis label themselves “travel designers,” according to Travel Market Report, providing bespoke services such as in-home consultations. It says these types of agents can recommend exclusive properties and amenities that online travel agents and others cannot offer.
Skift’s survey was aimed at the top 20 percent of income earners in the United States. Some 1,300 respondents answered 50 comprehensive questions about their travel habits.