Survey Highlights AI Adoption, Growth in Luxury Travel and Marketing Investments

ALEXANDRIA, VA (August 16, 2024) — Travel Leaders Network (TLN) recently surveyed its North American travel agency owners about a variety of topics important to travel advisors. The survey findings reveal that luxury travel is on the rise, independent (FIT) travel presents a promising opportunity for travel advisors, and TLN members are seeing positive returns from their investments in lead generation and social media marketing.

“As a company with one of the largest networks of travel advisors in our membership, it’s essential that we regularly survey them to stay informed about their experiences,” said Roger E. Block, President, Travel Leaders Network. “The results of these surveys provide valuable insights into what advisors are focused on, what they’re selling and their outlook for the near future.”

More advisors found that the fastest-growing ocean cruise segments are luxury and contemporary, with premium lagging behind. Most members reported that they expected over 10% growth in 2025 for luxury and contemporary, compared to between 5-10% for premium. River cruises are expected to grow as well, with 38% surveyed looking forward to sales growth over 10% in this sector.

On the land side, using 2024 as a baseline, TLN members plan to sell more FIT travel in the new year. Nearly 80% of respondents expect to sell over 5% more in the FIT segment. Group travel shows mild growth with just 40% of respondents forecasting over 5% in sales growth.

All-inclusive resorts, where 50% surveyed are forecasting between 5-10% growth and 38% are seeing less than 5% growth, is an area of travel with softening sales.

On the marketing side, TLN’s advisors see the value of social media. 40% of respondents listed it as their number one most effective way of driving new sales. Travel Leaders Network has introduced the new Social Share Pro to give members an automatic way of pushing new, fresh content onto their social platforms. And members reported that their number one change in business priority from 2024 to 2025 is to invest more in marketing and lead generation, including in Travel Leaders Network’s engagement programs and Agent Profiler.

Travel advisors seem to be embracing the potential of Artificial Intelligence, with all respondents indicating plans to incorporate AI in some way next year. The primary applications they intend to focus on include marketing communications, customer service responses, and crafting their profiles on Agent Profiler.

“It’s interesting to note that the areas where our members wish to invest their resources align with the tools we’ve introduced and refined, such as Social Share Pro, Agent Profiler for lead generation, and TobyAI. Travel Leaders Network is clearly on the right track in providing members with the support they need. As the survey reveals, while there are some challenges, travel advisors overall are optimistic about the opportunities ahead in 2025 and anticipate another successful year,” Block said.

For travel agencies interested in learning more about the award-winning programs and diverse offerings of Travel Leaders Network in leisure and luxury travel, business travel, honeymoon and destination weddings — as well as active and adventure travel — visit TravelLeadersNetwork.com.

About Travel Leaders Network

Travel Leaders Network (www.TravelLeaders.com) assists millions of leisure and business travelers annually and is one of the largest sellers of luxury travel, cruises and tours in the travel agency industry, with approximately 5,700 travel agency locations across the United States and Canada. Travel Leaders Network is part of Internova Travel Group.