Unemployment is down among travel agents, according to new data from travel industry job board Hot Travel Jobs’ latest travel industry survey.
According to the report, which collected job data for 2017, overall employment among the travel agent respondents to the survey is up 2 percent. Length of unemployment decreased as well: unemployment of less than a month was up 6 percent, while unemployment of less than a year was down 13 percent and unemployment of one to six months was down five percent.
The full results break down as follows:
- Employment was 80 percent in 2017, as compared to 78 percent in 2016.
- Unemployment was 20 percent in 2017, as compared to 22 percent in 2016.
- Unemployment of less than a month was 13 percent in 2017, 7 percent in 2016
- Unemployment of one to six months was 35 percent in 2017, 40 percent in 2016
- Unemployment of seven to 12 months was 8 percent in 2017, 22 percent in 2016
- Unemployment of more than one year was 44 percent in 2017, 31 percent in 2016
The decline in unemployment is the latest in a run of good news for travel agents. In a fact sheet released to celebrate National Travel Agent Day, Travel Leaders noted that airline ticket sales by travel agents ticked up 3.4 percent in 2017. The United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) reports that 84 percent of its members distribute their products through agents. Additionally, two-thirds of cruise sales are through traditional travel agents, and 8 out of 10 Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)-certified travel agents say they are anticipating an increase in sales this year.
Travel booking jobs also posted four straight months of gains since December 2017, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), although they did fall slightly in March, the most recent month for which BLS data is available. The leisure and hospitality sector as a whole, however, added 5,000 jobs in March. Leisure and hospitality jobs overall were also up year-over-year.
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