Travel Leaders Network (TLN) recently surveyed its North American travel agency owners about topics important to travel advisors. Highlights of the findings include the continued rise of luxury travel, independent (FIT) travel as a promising opportunity, and TLN members seeing positive returns from investments in lead generation and social media marketing.

Roger Block, president of Travel Leaders Network. (photo courtesy of Travel Leaders Group)

“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.

(Courtesy of Travel Leaders)

On the marketing side, TLN’s advisors see the value of social media. 40% of respondents listed it as their 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.

According to the TLN survey, travel advisors appear 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 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,” Block said.

“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.”

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