par Debbie Olsen
Dernière mise à jour: 5:25 PM ET, Wed March 4, 2026
Travel advisors are more important than ever before and with recent travel disruptions in Cuba, Mexico and the Middle East, clients who have not used the services of a travel advisor in the past are recognizing the value. Now is a great time to look at ways to attract new clients, retain existing clients and increase gross agency sales. One of the best ways to gain knowledge and insights about the travel industry is from other agents.
From November 4 to December 18, 2025, Travel Weekly and Phocuswright (sister brands of TravelPulse Canada), along with sponsors Ensemble, Princess, and Globus, conducted an exclusive online survey of Canadian travel advisors and travel agency owners.
The survey was fielded through Northstar Travel’s media database and several industry partners. To qualify, respondents had to work for or own a travel agency. The responses were collected and analyzed to provide a snapshot of the current travel agency landscape in Canada and identify trends shaping the industry. Here’s what travel advisors should know for 2026.
Know Your Client - Who is Working with Canadian Travel Advisors and Why?
To be successful in any business, you need to understand where your clients are coming from and why they chose to work with you. This is especially important for travel advisors who deliver personalized, curated high-value experiences to clients. The survey found that nearly three quarters (74%) of travellers who work with advisors are over 40, and half of clients have an income of $100k CAD or more. When travelers work with an advisor, they are not primarily motivated by price. Just 2% of advisors cite price as a top reason clients work with them. Advisors said personal relationships and customer service are the top reasons clients book with them.
Best Strategies for Attracting New Clients
Attracting new clients is essential for travel agencies to ensure revenue growth and long-term business survival. Advisor or agency websites and free social media are the top approaches most advisors are using for attracting new clients. Eleven percent of advisors are optimizing their websites for AI-driven search and recommendations.
Younger advisors are more likely to use social media platforms with Facebook and Instagram being their top choices. Instagram usage increased slightly in 2025 to 61%.
Specialization Matters – Building a Niche
Advisors typically build expertise in specific niches to develop and maintain a client base. Only 9 percent of advisors have no specializations. The most common specializations were tours and packages (65%) and ocean cruises (62%). Specific destinations (51%), river cruises (47%) group travel (51%) and luxury travel (50%) were also common specializations.
Best Strategies for Keeping Current Clients
Client retention is extremely important in the travel industry and most advisors use email, e-newsletters and text message to assist them. Satisfied repeat customers typically spend more than new customers and they act as brand advocates providing word-of-mouth referrals that help expand a travel advisor’s client base. It costs more time, effort and money to acquire a new customer than to retain a current one.
How to Communicate with Clients – What Works Best?
Communication is a key to success in any business. The top methods for communicating with clients are email and phone call, followed by text messaging.
A Snapshot of the Travel Agency Business in Canada
There was a time when most travel advisors worked as salaried employees in traditional brick-and-mortar agencies, but that has been changing in recent years. Most travel agencies surveyed had almost equal numbers of salaried employees and independent consultants. The home-based model is growing and 27% of travel agencies moved to a home-based model in the last year.
Travel advisors have specialties and so do travel agencies. The top agency specializations in the 2025 survey were family travel (84%), followed by luxury travel (73%) and adventure travel (44%).
How Did Agency Revenues Look in 2024?
When looking at the last full year they had information on, respondents reported total agency gross bookings that reflect a diverse agency landscape. Three in 10 agency owners/managers reported agency gross bookings over $1 million CAD in 2024, and roughly the same share (29%) reported gross bookings of $300,000 CAD or less. Most other agencies fell somewhere in-between. Overall commissions/overrides accounted for 79% of agency revenue in 2024 and 16% of revenue came from service fees. Sixteen percent of agencies receive incentives/overrides from airlines that otherwise don’t pay commissions. These are typically large agencies or those in powerful consortia that can access performance-based incentives known as overrides.
The Latest on Service Fees
Six in 10 agencies surveyed charge clients a service fee. More than four in 10 agencies (42%) introduced service fees in the last 12 months. Most travel advisors (80%) charge service fees per transaction or segment. Most advisors (64%) charge consultation fees.
Which Destinations are Canadian Travellers Booking Through Travel Advisors?
International travel represented 93% of agency gross bookings, but it’s no surprise that travel to the United States declined for nearly eight in 10 advisors (78%). Theme Park gross bookings also decreased for more than half of advisors (53%). Advisors were most likely to report increased gross bookings for travel to Europe.
Leisure travel represented 91% of agency gross bookings in 2024. All-inclusive resorts, ocean cruises from countries outside Canada and air were the top products for Canadian travel agencies during that year as well.
How do Travel Advisors Choose Their Preferred Suppliers?
Preferred suppliers provide consistent, reliable, high-quality service, but there are other factors that lead to them being chosen as preferred suppliers. The top services provided by preferred suppliers are higher commissions, access to a business development manager, FAM trips and educational programs.
Predictions
Most owners/managers anticipate growth over the next 12 months, with 70% expecting increased gross bookings. Advisors were most likely to anticipate growth in the next 12 months for escorted tours, travel insurance and ocean cruises from outside Canada.
Stay Tuned for Part 3 of the 2025 Exclusive Travel Advisor Survey
Have you ever wished you could get a glimpse into the future? The travel industry has been notoriously unpredictable in recent years and while it’s difficult to know what the future holds, a deep dive into the present can provide a good indication of where the industry is headed — and help travel advisors and agencies plan ahead. In Part 3 of the summary of the Exclusive Travel Advisor Survey, we’re taking a deep die into the outlook for the travel industry. You won’t want to miss it.
Watch the Webinar! TravelPulse Canada reports on the survey findings in an engaging webinar. You can watch the recording now if you missed it live: TravelPulse Canada Travel Industry Survey
Sujets de cet article à explorer
