As luxury travelers increasingly seek out personalized, high-end experiences, travel agents remain a vital resource, bridging the gap between inspiration and seamless execution. While social media may spark ideas, the expertise and problem-solving skills of travel advisors ensure these dream vacations become reality. In fact, the most recent Annual Luxury Travel report, commissioned by Flywire, shows 85% of luxury travelers believe working with an agent is essential for a truly luxurious trip.
With a growing emphasis on sustainability, particularly among younger generations, travel agents are more important than ever in delivering tailored, worry-free travel experiences.
Find out why the future looks bright for travel agents serving the luxury market as well as considerations for strategy development and areas in need of improvement according to independent research.
1. Luxury travelers consider travel agents essential advisors…
While there are now many more sources of inspiration for luxury travelers, including social media, travel agents are still very much in demand when it comes to actually planning and booking a trip, which is fantastic news.
Almost all luxury travelers say they have used a travel agent/advisor or were likely to in the next 18 months. Their reasons range from travel agents providing peace of mind (67%), having knowledge of travel restrictions (65%), being able to solve problems when they happen (63%), and being able to take care of everything (58%). What's more, 85% think working with travel experts is the only way to have a truly luxury travel experience.
One finding to note is that travel agents seem to be particularly valued by younger travelers. The survey showed that 85% of Gen Z/Millennial luxury travelers and 71% of Gen X travelers—aged 18 & 45 years old, and 46-61 years old respectively—say they cannot imagine traveling without a travel agent/advisor compared to just 41% of travelers aged 62 years or older.
2. …because they help deliver experiences that define luxury travel
Luxury travel is all about the experience. Most luxury travelers say that luxury travel is defined by staying in 5- star accommodation or having first-class travel arrangements. Still, a significant proportion (55%) also said having personalized experiences was the definition of luxury travel for them.
These travelers want bespoke experiences that resonate with their interests, lifestyle, and preferences, and 93% feel using a travel agent/advisor is the best way to create such experiences.
3. Generational divides are emerging in traveler behaviors, particularly around environmental impact
The report highlights the emergence of some generational differences in luxury traveler behavior and preferences that could be useful for travel agents to note.
More luxury travelers in the Gen Z/Millenial and Gen X age groups say their travel spending will increase in 2024, compared to their older counterparts who are more likely to say their spending will stay the same as the previous year.
The biggest emerging divide is that younger luxury travelers seem much more likely to consider their impact—on the environment and local communities—when they make travel choices. For example, 95% of Gen Z or Millennials (aged 18-45) say they look for accommodations with sustainability-focused policies and/or products all or some of the time, whereas just under a third (28%) of luxury travelers aged 62+ say they do this.
At the same time, nearly all Gen Z/Millennial luxury travelers said they had taken at least one slow-travel trip in the past few years whereas, travelers aged 62+ are less likely to have done so. Looking to the future, over half (55%) of Gen Z/Millennial travelers, along with almost half (42%) of Gen X travelers (46-61), said they plan to take 2-3 slow travel trips in the next year, which is almost double the number of travelers aged 62+ (23%).
4. Security is top concern when it comes to payments; simplicity also desirable
Payment is a critical step in the sales process that should happen without a second thought. Unfortunately, though, most luxury travelers have concerns about their payment or experience some pain when trying to pay for their vacation.
Security is both a key concern and the top pain point for luxury travelers. Over two-thirds say they are concerned with the security of their payment, with the figure rising for younger generations of travelers. Whereas only 20% of travelers aged 62 or over said they were concerned about their payments’ security, 65% of Gen X (46-61 years old) and 77% of Gen Z/Millennial travelers (aged 18-45) said this.
Uncertainty and inconvenience are also payment challenges. As pain points, unexpected fees and/or exchange rate confusion were chosen by 45% of respondents, not being able to use local payment methods by 27%, and not being able to pay in local currency by 20%.
There is recognition across the travel sector that payments are a challenge and impact the customer experience. According to the Flywire Travel Provider Insights 2024 report, 9 in 10 travel providers agree that the easier it is for customers to pay, the happier those customers will be.
While everything points to strong growth for travel agents in the future, there is one business process that will hold back if it isn’t solved: commission payments. Despite these payments being commonplace throughout the sector, over 80% of travel providers, including travel agents and DMCs, wish it were easier to handle commission payments. For most, the commissions process is still highly manual and time consuming, and most travel providers believe they would save both time and money if they could find a better way to handle them.
Find out more:
- Find out how Flywire helps simplify payments for travel agents
- Explore more luxury traveler trends in the 2024 “Annual luxury travel report: What the most discerning travelers want”