2009 was a challenging year in the travel business – but 2010 promises to be much better. That’s the key finding in the latest year-end North American survey conducted by the Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN), the region’s largest trade association of home-based travel retailers. Among 1,430 agents responding to the survey, 35 percent posted higher sales this year, but 43 percent saw a decrease in their 2009 bookings. Looking ahead to 2010, 85 percent predict that…
2009 was a challenging year in the travel business – but 2010 promises to be much better. That’s the key finding in the latest year-end North American survey conducted by the Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN), the region’s largest trade association of home-based travel retailers.
Among 1,430 agents responding to the survey, 35 percent posted higher sales this year, but 43 percent saw a decrease in their 2009 bookings. Looking ahead to 2010, 85 percent predict that the new year will be successful for them, with 15 percent disagreeing.
OSSN’s latest survey results capture a snapshot of the way these retailers operate their home-based travel businesses:
- 22 percent have their own merchant account to process credit card sales.
- 46 percent have their own errors and omissions/general liability insurance coverage (beyond any coverage provided by a host agency).
- 47 percent use their own branded Web domain names for email, instead of public-domain email systems such as Yahoo!.
The Travel Retailers Universal Enumeration (TRUE) booking code system is the most popular choice among these agents, with 39 percent using TRUE codes when they make reservations for clients. Thirty-one percent use a Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) number, while 30 percent use codes provided by airline groups (ARC, IATA).
The 2009 year-end survey also focused on three key topics that will affect home-based agents in 2010:
Hotel bookings
- Forty-nine percent of the agents said their clients “sometimes” tell them which properties to book, while 39 percent said their clients simply suggest locations.
- Three in four home-based agents book international hotel stays for their clients (the most important criteria: a good location, followed by quality, price, safety, brand name, and unique experience).
- Nine in 10 of these agents also book pre- and post-cruise hotel stays (only 10 percent reported that they never book them).
Web sites
- Three in five home-based travel sellers now have their own Web sites.
- They split evenly in how they created their sites: 34 percent built it themselves, 34 percent used ready-made site designs, and 32 percent used a professional.
- Almost 40 percent reported that their sites currently generate leads for their travel businesses.
Social Media
- Facebook is the #1 choice among home-based agents currently using social media sites, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter.
- Seven in 10 responding agents said they plan to use social media sites in 2010.
- Those agents saying they do not plan to use social media next year gave these reasons: They’re not familiar with the applications (34 percent), they don’t have time (28 percent), or they’re not aware of any benefits (23 percent).
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
