Travel Weekly and sister brand Phocuswright have released their annual Travel Industry Survey, which polled nearly 1,600 advisors over the final weeks of summer.
Traditional travel advisors working at a travel agency office or retail storefront and home-based retail travel agency employees were surveyed, in addition to home-based independent advisors and fully independent agencies.
The survey paints a picture of the current travel advisor climate and outlines some notable trends heading into 2026.
Biggest Challenges Facing Travel Advisors
Unsurprisingly, the economy proved the biggest challenge to travel advisors in 2025, with inflation and the cost of trips giving them the most trouble.
Competing with suppliers encouraging direct bookings was also a significant hurdle to many advisors. According to the study, “more reported that bookings decreased compared to 2024 (17 percent versus 12 percent), and just over half (51 percent) reported increased bookings, compared to 65 percent last year.”
Looking ahead to the next 12 months, advisors are most concerned about the increased cost of travel (64 percent), followed by high airfares and fees (48 percent), U.S. economic conditions (39 percent), uncertainty due to changing government policies (37 percent), Internet-based competition (29 percent) and airport hassles and delays (29 percent).
Generative AI Familiarity and Usage Grows
Much like the rest of the world, advisors are growing increasingly aware of generative AI and using it more often as they become more familiar.
Nearly six in 10 respondents (59 percent) said they have used AI platforms and tools, which is up from 41 percent in 2024.
What’s more, this year’s study found that many advisors (57 percent) are very or extremely interested in using this emerging technology to create marketing material and website content. Approximately 42 percent of agency owners and managers are currently using AI for these exact purposes.
While younger advisors are typically more familiar with AI tools when it comes to their business, usage is growing across all age ranges, with nearly four in 10 advisors age 65 and up using AI platforms compared to just one-quarter a year ago.
The leading concerns with AI among the travel advisor community are accuracy, the lack of a personal touch and privacy concerns.
A travel advisor working on her computer. (Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/M-Production)
NDC Fears Falling by the Wayside
The 2025 Travel Industry Survey also finds that NDC fears may have reached a crescendo. In 2022, roughly three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents indicated that they were not familiar with NDC distribution. That same year, only 7 percent said they were familiar and their agency had access to NDC content.
Two years later, in 2024, only 43 percent were not familiar and 42 percent were familiar and had access to NDC content. In 2025, those figures came in at 46 percent and 40 percent, respectively, suggesting a notable shift.
“The GDSs have done a great job of enabling more servicing capabilities,” Tye Radcliffe, chief customer success officer for NDC solution developer Accelya, told Travel Weekly editor Robert Silk.
“Both the agencies themselves and home-based contractors working for larger agencies are getting information now from multiple sources that are helping them feel more confident about what NDC is all about. And because the GDSs have made servicing available to them, when they see a lower fare in the GDS—if it happens to be NDC and they book it—they’re finding that they’re able to service better than they were before.”
Other Notable Travel Advisor Trends
The 2025 Travel Industry Survey also dives into other travel advisor trends, including the fact that about half (52 percent) call themselves “travel advisors,” while one in five prefer the term “travel agent.”
Meanwhile, the percentage of advisors who identify as home-based has plateaued, coming in at 78 percent in 2025, compared to 76 percent in 2024 and 84 percent in 2023.
Nearly half of the respondents have been selling travel for 11 or more years, including 19 percent who have done so for more than 30 years. On the flip side, 21 percent of respondents have been a part of the industry for two years or less.
Half of the surveyed advisors (50 percent) belong to a single consortium, 47 percent use a host agency and only 5 percent belong to more than one consortium, while just 2 percent use more than one host agency.
Click here to read the complete 2025 Travel Industry Survey.
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