19% of travelers use an agent, survey finds

(Source: Internet)

Travel agent usage is up in 2016, according to data released in the latest white paper based off MMGY Global’s 2016 Portrait of American Travelers survey.

According to the data, which was released this week, 19% of survey respondents said they have used a traditional travel agent for at least one vacation in the past year. In 2013, 12% of respondents reported using an agent. That number spiked to 18% in 2014, but decreased in 2015 to 16%.

The data also shows millennials are using agents. According to MMGY, one-third of millennials said they are active travel agent users. That number has been on the rise: it’s up 19 points from 2011 and 12 from 2014.

Agents are sending their clients to new destinations, according to the survey. Fifty-nine percent of vacations that travel agent users take are to new destinations, versus 31% of vacations taken by travelers who didn’t use an agent.

Agent users are also spending more money on vacations. The survey found that they were spending an average of $8,405 on vacations in the past year and intend to spend $8,938 on vacations during the next year, which MMGY said is “over twice as much as travelers who don’t use travel agents."

The Portrait of American Travelers survey received responses from 2,948 adults in the United States who have taken at least one overnight trip 75 miles or more from home in the previous 12 months. Responses were collected in February.