TORONTO — New data from The 1000, the travel advisor recognition program launched last year, suggests a strong majority of the club’s members are on track for 2022 sales to surpass those of 2019.

The 1000 members hail from travel agencies in every corner of the world, say co-founders Tim Morgan and Jeff Sirota, across agency and consortia affiliation, and selling all travel product types and budgets.

Not surprisingly, the pandemic brought consistently lower 2020 sales volumes for advisors around the world. Then in 2021, production numbers were significantly higher in the U.S., as compared to other countries, including for a minority of U.S.-based advisors who saw their 2021 production surpass their pre-pandemic, 2019 figures.

While Canada, the UK, and Australia followed the U.S. for recovery in 2021, their recovery levels were significantly lower due to tighter travel restrictions still in place.

Meanwhile some 88% of The 1000 members around the world say their 2022 invoiced sales are on track to be ahead of 2019.

“The 1000 is made up of incredibly passionate and successful travel advisors from around the world,” said Jeff Sirota, Co-Founder, The 1000. “But what makes them truly stand out is their respect for their own profession and that of their peers as travel professionals – and the proof is in their numbers.

Application submissions to join The 1000 represent more than US$2 billion in annual sales production – averaging $2.3 million per advisor, says Sirota.

For those travel advisors who have been verified and accepted into The 1000, their minimum annual sales production is $1.5 million and average annual sales production is $3.1 million, with a number of individual advisors each producing over $12 million per year.

“With a US$279k average annual gross commission for those travel advisors accepted into The 1000, there is no doubt that the travel advisor profession is a career that should be given the respect it deserves,” said Morgan.

More stats from The 1000 members include this breakdown of product sales …

Hotel: 34%

Air: 18%

Cruise: 17% (12% ocean cruise, 5% river cruise)

Tours: 16% (7% escorted tours, 9% packaged tours)

DMC/On Site: 15%

And here’s a look at the travel industry tenure of The 1000’s members …

• Less than 5 years as a travel advisor: 6%
• 5-10 years as a travel advisor: 26%
• 10-15 years as a travel advisor: 20%
• More than 15 years as a travel advisor: 48%

Free applications for The 1000 are open to all advisors from around the world until July 29, 2022 at https://www.the1000.club/.

“As our industry struggles with succession planning for the travel advisor profession, insights into what defines a viable career are crucial, with compensation and product-focus being critical to that understanding,” said Morgan.