Where Do Travel Agents Fit In Today?
ASTA explains how travel advisors are more relevant than ever...
I recently wrote an article for the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) on the role of travel advisors and their decision to trade-in positions at top organizations, like Virtuoso, to work remotely.
Until I started chatting with these travel advisors, I was ignorant to a few things. One, I did not realize how in-demand, and relevant, travel advisors were, and two, I was still calling them travel agents, which as with many terms in the 21st century, proves to be outdated.
“Travel advisor is so much more reflective of who we are than travel agents. The industry and profession has taken on a new shape.”
— Erika Richter, Director of Communications at ASTA
Richter stumbled upon ASTA six years after moving to DC to work on Capitol Hill. After working as a campaign manager and in congressional fundraising, she took her experience to a chemical trade association, which is when she was introduced to ASTA. “It seemed like a much better fit,” she says, “Compare chemicals and travel—that’s an easy choice!”
While Richter began in their government affairs office, helping the organization protect and defend the interests of ASTA members, she couldn’t ignore the opportunity to fill the role of communications director when it opened.
“It was more than getting ASTA mentioned in the news, it was about telling the story of who we are and who we represent. People really thought travel agents died. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The more positive stories we were promoting, the more people caught on that travel advisors play a really important role in the community.”
I spoke with Richter on how she worked to redefine the term “travel agent,” as well as the role ASTA and its advisors play in luxury travel, today:
What are some of the biggest changes that you’ve noticed when it comes to the way travelers are booking in the past decade?
Travelers want to get the most out of their time and money. Especially the millennial generation, they are really looking for those immersive experiences. It’s more than ticking off landmarks, it’s really getting into the destination. So we’re seeing more unique tours and opportunities for travelers to be a part of the community we’re traveling in.
We are finding travel advisor usage on the rise; I think that says something about the level of trust and expertise that travelers are looking for. They want to work with someone who has the destination experience they’re looking for. It’s getting tough to trust reviews online.
What role do you think technology plays in these changes?
I think it elevates the experiences in many ways but I also worry that technology will dominate the travel experience negatively. There are great advances in technology but why do we travel? To connect. To connect with experiences and new destinations and it is really hard to do that when you’re looking down at your phone the whole time—I want more people to look up and connect, to take it in.
When I travel, I’m not out there to get Instagram moments; all my photos are stored and I make slideshows or scrapbooks with them. That’s me and I understand that’s not for everybody, but I do think when it comes to traveling, if we Instagram-ed less and experienced more we’d all be better off for it.
How has ASTA adapted to the ever-shifting industry?
Our research and rebrand around the narrative of ‘travel advisors’ started to evolve from analyzing results within the market to see how the term travel advisor tested; it was consumer research over two years. There’s also people who call themselves travel designers and that’s fine, but the point is the industry and profession has taken on a new shape. Simply by changing that name we’ve solidified that narrative.
Why do you think travel advisors are more relevant than ever?
Millennials play a huge role in it. They are looking for validation that they’re making the best travel choice and they get that from human connection; the internet has run its course.
How do you see the role of travel advisors changing in the future?
I think a lot will change. We will see younger people get into the industry, people who will leave their 9-to-5 and start their career in selling travel. More people are becoming interested in this lifestyle. I think travel advisors are going to get better in self-promoting through social media; we’re seeing a lot of that change right now as younger advisors are getting into the industry. That’s really helping what ASTA is doing in general because the more people are promoting themselves the more people see the relevant role in travel advisors.
Are there any particular travel trends you’re following at the moment?
River cruising is something i’ve been following for a while—personally and professionally. I think it’s something that’s really changed. I personally haven’t been on a river cruise but based on my research and the travel community, they’re rising in popularity; a trend I don’t think will go anywhere soon.
Also, mystery vacation packages: you don’t get to figure out where you're going until the day you go. You fill out a traveler profile, they send you a few hints ahead of time—like how to pack, what the climate will be like, you have an overall budget—then the day of your departure you get the package and it tells you where you’re going. It’s experiential travel on steroids. There are a few companies doing it really well: Magical Mystery Tours and Pack Up + Go.
And what about trending destinations?
We’re doing our international destination expo in Israel. We try to focus our destination expos on markets that are popular and will continue to grow—we did this in Greece last year. Vietnam is becoming popular among our advisors, really all of southeast asia. And I think that’s great people are continuing to travel further and further.
Xo,
J
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