New Data Finds US Travel Agency Sales Increased in 2021

New knowledge units from the Airways Reporting Corp. (ARC) present ARC-accredited journey company air ticket gross sales totaled $39.8 billion final yr.

The info compares journey agent air ticket gross sales from 2020 to 2021 to match progress and charges of journey. In 2020, vacationers took 116 million journeys. That quantity grew 50 % year-over-year, with vacationers taking 174 million passenger journeys in 2021. It falls in need of assembly pre-pandemic ranges, although. In 2019, vacationers took 302 million journeys. Home journey charges are recovering quicker than worldwide journeys.

Within the final three months of 2021, journey businesses earned over $3 billion in gross sales, with vacationers taking 13.2 million journeys, greater than double 2020’s fourth-quarter outcomes. Of this quantity, about 9.2 million of them had been home, a 115 % enhance from 2020. About 4.05 million had been worldwide journeys, which was a rise of about 78 % year-over-year.

Whole gross sales in airfare in 2020 or 2021 didn’t meet or exceed pre-pandemic ranges, although it did rise year-over-year through the pandemic; December 2019, as an example, reported a complete variety of air ticket gross sales at $6.1 billion. Vacationers spent $1.05 billion in December 2020, then $3.1 billion in December 2021, about half the pre-pandemic quantity, most probably as a result of journey hesitancy that arose because the Omicron variant unfold all through the world.

December 2021 was the worst performing month for ticket gross sales and journeys taken for the yr, with a lower in journeys and gross sales starting from twenty to thirty %.

“The tip-of-year lower we sometimes see in gross sales and journeys was extra pronounced this yr with shoppers frightened in regards to the omicron variant,” mentioned Steve Solomon, vp of worldwide gross sales, advertising and marketing, operations and buyer expertise at ARC. “Whole gross sales confirmed the same lower within the late summer time as delta variant case counts grew. We count on a continued restoration throughout air journey in 2022, with on-line journey businesses recovering to pre-pandemic ranges this spring as shoppers proceed to energy the restoration.”

This knowledge may solely have a look at airline ticket gross sales and journeys, nevertheless it does present a promising outlook for each airways and journey businesses, in addition to the broader journey business. Solely time will inform what this yr will deliver, nevertheless it’s anticipated that business’s restoration will proceed to enhance.

To learn the complete knowledge set, please go to ARC’s web site.