Jamie Biesiada
Among hosted travel advisors, those who work full time saw the largest gains in income in 2023, according to Host Agency Reviews' annual Travel Advisor Survey.
Each year, Host Agency Reviews (HAR) publishes research on the agency community, and preliminary data from this year's survey indicates a general deceleration of growth from 2022 to 2023. But, the largest amounts of income growth happened among full-time advisors, not part-timers, who saw "little to no income increase" last year.
HAR surveyed more than 2,300 travel advisors from April 15 to June 9. The data comes from participants earning a minimum of $5,000 in commission in 2023.
According to HAR's survey, from 2020 to 2021, hosted advisors' income grew a whopping 126%. It makes sense: While 2020 was a dismal year for many, by 2021, travel had begun its recovery from the pandemic.
From 2021-2022, hosted advisor income grew a more modest 26%.
Based on the latest survey, from 2022 to 2023, hosted advisor income increased just slightly, 2%. While explosive growth has slowed, it does indicate some stabilization, HAR said.
"Regaining the losses from the Covid-19 pandemic has been a long time coming for the advisor community," HAR founder Steph Lee said. "We're excited to see the continued growth from the agency distribution channel. The trends we're seeing help cement the important role agencies will play in the U.S. travel ecosystem in the years to come."
Host advisor sales were up 8% in 2023, HAR found. A large majority, 81%, said sales did increase in 2023.
And 90% of those surveyed said sales have recovered to prepandemic levels.
Income still short of 2019 numbers
However, overall income is still just shy of 2019 numbers. HAR found the average income of hosted advisors was $48,124. That is 7% less than it was in 2019, according to HAR.
Stabilization of income is a good thing. It's also coming at a time when many sectors, including the travel agency community, are reporting something of a normalization after years of uncertainty and spiking sales.
Here are some more stats from HAR.
Advisors with three or more years of experience working full time saw an average income of $60,583 in 2023, with average sales of $650,032.
Eight percent of participants reported $1 million in sales or more.