Who’s booking with travel advisors?

Why affluent, experience-driven travelers still choose human expertise - and what that means for hotels

Travel advisors continue to attract a distinct and resilient segment of travelers, even as inflation and economic uncertainty shape booking behavior. Phocuswright’s U.S. Travel Agency Landscape 2025 shows that agency sales are growing faster than the overall travel market, driven largely by older, wealthier travelers seeking personalized service and unique experiences. Price competitiveness plays only a minor role in these bookings, with trust, expertise, and relationships proving far more influential. For hoteliers, this reinforces the strategic importance of the advisor channel as a source of high-value demand rather than volume-driven price shoppers.

Key takeaways

• Affluent travelers dominate advisor bookings: Clients working with travel advisors are predominantly over 40 and high-income, making them a strong fit for upscale, luxury, and experience-led hotel products.
• Personal service outweighs price: Only a small fraction of advisor clients book for the lowest rate, underscoring that service quality, product knowledge, and trust drive conversion—not discounts.
• Luxury and bespoke travel lead growth: High-end and exclusive experiences are the fastest-growing segments in the advisor channel, supporting higher ADRs and longer stays for hotels.
• Younger travelers remain underrepresented: Gen Z and millennials tend to favor OTAs for price transparency, limiting advisor reach in younger demographics and shaping future demand patterns.
• Education is key to generational expansion: Advisors are focusing on explaining their value proposition to younger travelers, often through peers and social-media-savvy agents.
• Strategic relevance for hoteliers: Hotels that invest in advisor relationships, differentiated experiences, and clear value propositions are better positioned to capture resilient, high-yield demand through this channel.

Source. PhocusWire, Phocuswright

Enjoying this analysis?** Hospitality.today delivers daily insights on hotel distribution, AI trends, and travel commerce — straight to your inbox. Subscribe for free at Hospitality.today →