The Luxury Cruise Travel Outlook 2022 revealed the
growing trend of entrepreneurship within the travel
advisor community. Thirty three percent (33%) of
the respondents were owners/managers of their
agencies while 52% were independent contractors.
There has been a huge rise in the number of
independent contractors (ICs), in particular. In
TMR’s Distribution Outlook 2021, ICs formed 38%
of all advisors in 2021. By early 2022, more than half
of travel advisors were working independently
2
.
While the pandemic and the subsequent job
losses may account for some of this increase in
the number of independent contractors, the trend
started a couple of years before the pandemic.
At that time, many of those venturing into the
travel landscape were part-timers or retirees
who preferred working with host agencies. For a
majority of them, the income generated through
this work either supplemented their earnings or
compensated for loss of employment. The ability
to work on their own terms, flexible schedules and
an inherent interest in travel also contributed to
the influx of new ICs.
8
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CHART 1
Travel Agency Owner/Manager
Travel Advisor – Independent
Contractor
Travel Advisor – Employee
ADVISORS BY TYPE
ADVISOR DEMOGRAPHICS
33%
14%
52%
2
https://www.travelmarketreport.com/articles/Independent-Contractors-Gaining-Ground-in-the-Travel-Agent-Community
In total, 76% of the respondents were from the
US and 21% were from Canada. Among the
Americans, the highest representation was
from Florida, California, New York and Texas,
while the highest number of Canadian advi-
sors were from Ontario, followed by British
Columbia and Alberta.
The new normal of remote or home-based
work in the post-pandemic world has made
its way into the travel industry, as well. Of the
total respondents, the number of retail travel
agencies working out of a traditional brick and
mortar storefront is 24%, a small drop from
2021’s 29%. A similar drop was observed in
the number of retail travel agencies without a
storefront as well – from 31% in 2021 to 24% in
2022. The number of independent contractors
working with a host grew from last year’s 29%
to 44%. The share of independent contractors
working on their own fell marginally from 10%
in the previous year to 8%. This further consol-
idates the belief that more advisors now want
to work on their own terms and time like any
other business owner/entrepreneur.
CHART 2
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9
BUSINESS CLASSIFICATION
ADVISOR DEMOGRAPHICS
24%
24%
44%
8%
Retail travel agency with a storefront
location
Retail travel agency, non-storefront
such as home-based agency
Independent contractor/advisor working
with a host
Independent contractor/advisor working
on own