快盈lll

快盈lll REVEALS ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MEMBERSHIP AND INDUSTRY FORECASTS

 

2014 Tour Operator Survey Monitors Business Trends, Top Travel Destinations, and More

 

NEW YORK 鈥� December 5, 2014 鈥� A biennial economic impact study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) found that active members of the contributed $12.5 billion to the U.S. tour operator industry in 2013, representing more than 7.6 million individual travelers. Furthermore, the membership projects a healthy increase in sales in 2014 of 8.7% to $13.5 billion, with a 4.7% increase in individual travelers, to nearly 8 million.

 

Member operators are confident about business in 2015:  95% anticipate a growth in sales in 2015.  Of that majority, two thirds (62%) forecast 鈥渙ptimistic鈥� to 鈥渂oom year鈥� growth with sales approaching 10% or more. A little less than a third (29%) remain cautiously optimistic that sales will increase 4-6% in 2015.

 

鈥淪ince PwC started monitoring the economic footprint of our tour operator members two years ago, 快盈lll has been able to use this data to build and strengthen the association鈥檚 role in advocacy for our membership as well as understand the full impact of the revenues and jobs generated,鈥� said Terry Dale, president and CEO of 快盈lll.  鈥淚t鈥檚 vital to track these economic and travel trends to fully appreciate how 快盈lll鈥檚 active tour operator members impact the industry overall,鈥� Dale continued.

 

On the jobs front, active members report employing 11,800 people within the US. Total wages paid by members in 2013 amounted to $843 million. In 2014, members project an increase of 4.7%, or 12,350 jobs, and an 8.9% increase in wages to $917 million.  More than half respondents (57%) plan to increase staff in 2015.

 

Dale stated, 鈥淭ravel agents continue to contribute significantly to our member鈥檚 businesses and remain an important piece of the sales chain.鈥� Adding that active members reported travel agencies represented two-thirds (67%) of total packages sold in 2013.   

 

Among other vital statistics revealed at 快盈lll鈥檚 Annual Conference & Marketplace, held at Boca Raton Resort in Boca Raton, Florida, December 5-7, 2014:

 

路       Active members were responsible for more than 16.3 million hotel room nights booked in 2013.

路       Airline seats sold in 2013 were 4.55 million, with 4.7 million projected to sell in 2014 for an increase of 3.2%.

路       Total travel packages sold number 3.7 million in 2013; in 2014, this is expected to grow 8% to 4 million travel packages.

路       Purchases of goods and services for travel packages, including air, rail, cruise, ground transportation, accommodations, dining, and sightseeing/attractions, was $9.4 billion in 2013; with a projected increase of 5% to $9.9 billion in 2014.

 

Who鈥檚 Traveling

 

When asked who鈥檚 traveling, members responded that about half of their customer base is baby boomers at 50 years of age and older. The next largest age group was 36 to 50 years old representing 26% of customers. Two thirds (66%) of business booked was by US residents traveling to international destinations, with 21% by US residents traveling domestically.

 

Top Destinations and Trends

 

When asked to name the top ten destinations for travelers in 2015, active members ranked Italy as number one, followed by United Kingdom, China, Peru, France, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, Brazil and Vietnam. 

 

For the third year in a row, respondents named Myanmar the top 鈥渆merging鈥� country they foresee becoming increasingly popular in 2015, followed by Cuba, Croatia, Iceland, India, Peru, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Panama. 

 

鈥淲hat鈥檚 really interesting about these results is that Cuba debuted at the very impressive position of second behind Myanmar,鈥� added Dale. 鈥淭his validates current and growing demand for travel to Cuba and furt