Leisure Travel Is (Finally) Back And That’s Good News for Agents

Consumers have finally moved on from the recession and travelling again. .

Growth in Leisure Travel up 4 Percentage Points

Sixty-five percent of consumers took at least one leisure trip in 2013, compared to 63% in 2010, 62% in 2011 and 61% in 2012. In the pre-recession year of 2008, some 70% of consumers took leisure trips.

OTA’s Lose Ground

While agent bookings remain stable, the mega-OTAs continued to lose ground with travel shoppers. Visits to OTA sites like Priceline and Expedia fell from 61% in 2011 to 59% in 2012 and 54% in 2013.

New Millennium and Baby Boomers on the Rise

Travel by the new millennium travellers (25 to 34) is on the rise with 73% traveling last year, up from 66% in 2012. Baby boomers (46 to 64) had the most dramatic turnaround for leisure travel. Nearly half of boomers didn’t take a single trip in 2012 but 60% of them traveled at least once in 2013. This is an interesting change as these are the people who leading the t the rise in independent travel and that has big implications for radiation suppliers in the industry..

This article builds on the Phocusright report on consumer report. See the summary on travelmarketreport.com