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Travel Agent Finance Guide 2025: Understanding Client Demand in 2025

Part 1.4 of the Antravia Travel Agent Finance Guide explores how client preferences are shifting in 2025. From younger travelers willing to pay for expertise to the rise of niche markets like wellness, food, and luxury rail, this section breaks down what today’s clients expect, and how agents can position themselves to meet that demand profitably.

ANTRAVIA TRAVEL AGENT GUIDE

1/5/20256 min read

Part 1 – Becoming a Travel Agent the Right Way

1.1: The Industry Today

  • The size of the U.S. travel advisor market — real data and revenue benchmarks

  • Where growth is happening: luxury, corporate, cruises, groups, wellness

  • How host agencies dominate the landscape — and why they remain popular

  • The rise of independent advisors and what’s changed post-2020

  • 2024–2025 outlook: who is spending, and where

1.2: Host Agency vs. Independent

  • What a host agency actually does: commission splits, supplier access, support

  • Key financial differences: overrides, insurance, credit card processing

  • Hidden costs and contract clauses that affect your bottom line

  • When to move away from a host: red flags and readiness benchmarks

  • Real examples of agents transitioning — both successfully and not

1.3: What Successful Agents Do Differently

  • Why most agents fail: pricing mistakes, poor systems, burnout

  • Traits of top advisors: proactive pricing, real tracking, strategic delegation

  • What high-performing agents track: revenue per client, time spent, margins

  • Adding fees to commissions: what works and where

  • Case studies from Antravia clients who scaled strategically

1.4: Understanding Client Demand in 2025

  • Why Gen Z, Millennials, and luxury Boomers are driving change

  • Growth in niche segments: food travel, rail, wellness, sustainability

  • 77% of travelers want personalization — and what that means for advisors

  • What’s actually selling now — and how agents can reposition around it

  • How to price your expertise in a shifting buyer landscape

brown number 1 graphic
brown number 1 graphic

Part 1.1 - The Industry today - click here for this section

Part 1.2 - Host Agency vs Independent – Which model works financially in 2025? Antravia guide - click here for this section

Part 1.3 - Becoming a Travel Agent the right way: What successful agents do differently - click here


Part 1.4 - Understanding Client Demand in 2025

Success as a travel agent in 2025 depends on more than just supplier access or marketing reach. It also depends on matching your offer to what clients now expect. That means understanding how demand is shifting and then position yourself accordingly.

According to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), outbound U.S. travel grew 25% in 2024, driven largely by younger travelers and high-spend niche segments. The biggest growth has come from travelers under 40, who made up 52%of all long-haul leisure trips booked in the first half of 2024. This group is digitally savvy, experience-driven, and far more willing to pay for personalised support, but only if it adds value.

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) notes that 71% of Gen Z and Millennial travelers are likely to use a travel advisor in 2025, especially for complex or premium trips. This isn't just about saving time, but they also value insider access, personal relationship and the ability to filter a sea of online "noise". Agents who understand this shift are redesigning their services around planning fees, curated itineraries, and advisory-style relationships.

The Rise of Niche Demand

Traditional destination-based marketing is losing ground to interest-based travel. According to Virtuoso’s 2025 Luxe Report, wellness travel is now the fastest-growing category across its network, followed by culinary-focused travel and luxury rail journeys. Solo travel and skip-gen (grandparent-grandchild) bookings are also increasing, with clients expecting tailored support.

Here are the segments with notable traction:

  • Wellness travel: A projected global market value of $1.4 trillion by 2027, according to the Global Wellness Institute

  • Luxury rail: Booking.com listed it among its top 5 global luxury trends for 2025, citing growth in Europe and Asia itineraries

  • Food and wine: 72% of high-income travelers say gastronomy is a key factor in trip selection (Condé Nast Traveler, 2024 Reader Survey)

Agents who succeed in 2025 will not be generalists and sell anything, but they should focus on building deep, credible expertise in one or two verticals, and thus charging appropriately for that knowledge.

Willingness to Pay

A 2024 report by Skift and McKinsey found that 58% of travelers earning over $100,000 per year would rather pay a professional to plan their trip than handle it themselves. This is a fundamental shift. It means that agents no longer need to compete on lowest cost or “free service” messaging. In fact, positioning as free may erode credibility.

Clients want reassurance that their trip is well-designed, safe, and aligned with their goals. They want service before, during, and after the trip, not just a booking confirmation. This is particularly true for multi-generational travel, group trips, and premium experiences where there is more at stake.

What follows next is a few Case Studies from some of our agent clients at Antravia - Some small facts, such as names or amounts paid, have been amended to mantain confidentiality.

🔹 Mini Case Study 1: Solo Traveler with Specialist Needs

Jess, 32, was planning a solo trip through Japan. She had already done extensive research online but wanted help linking together local rail passes, rural ryokan stays, and a multi-day guided food tour in Osaka. She paid a $250 planning fee to a Japan specialist who helped refine the itinerary and took over all the supplier bookings. The agent earned a further $680 in commission across six suppliers. Jess later referred two colleagues planning similar trips.

➡️ Why it worked: The agent didn’t try to “sell Japan” - they offered value through logistics, timing, and local insight. This is what modern clients are willing to pay for.

🔹 Mini Case Study 2: Skip-Gen Travel with Risk

Antonio, 68, was taking his two grandsons (ages 11 and 13) on a summer trip to Spain and Morocco to introduce them to the countries he had lived as a child. Although Antonia had relatives in both countries, He wanted activities for his grandsons that would engage them while keeping logistics simple. His daughter (the boys’ mum) insisted on safe, insured providers and 24/7 contact while abroad. The agent offered a concierge-style package with a $450 planning fee and built the itinerary around guided experiences, medical insurance, and multi-generational comfort. Antonio didn’t even ask for a discount.

➡️ Why it worked: Emotional reassurance, not price, was the decision driver. The agent sold trust and coordination and not just rooms and tickets.

🔹 Mini Case Study 3: Wellness Niche with Repeat Bookings

Lara runs a boutique wellness agency focused on busy U.S. professionals looking for retreat-style travel. She sends clients to Thailand, Costa Rica, and Portugal for digital detoxes, Ayurvedic treatments, and high-end wellness programs. Her planning fee is $600, and she earns high-margin commissions on property bookings that often include embedded upsells (e.g. spa, transfers, herbal consults). 65% of her clients book again within 12 months.

➡️ Why it worked: Lara didn’t start by selling destinations, as she sold outcomes. Clients came to her for transformation, not travel.

🟫 Positioning Adjustments That Work

  • “Custom wellness retreats for women over 40” is sharper than “luxury travel expert”

  • “Concierge-style skip-gen travel” resonates more than “family holidays”

  • “Rail journeys for history lovers” outperforms “Europe itineraries”

Despite inflation concerns, high-value clients are not shy about spending but only if they trust the experience. A 2024 ASTA survey found that 62% of travelers using an advisor were willing to pay a separate planning fee, especially for complex or international trips. This supports the shift from free-to-fee models across every tier of the industry.
Agents who grow in 2025 are doing fewer things, but with depth and credibility.

🚫 Misaligned Messaging That Repels Today’s Buyer

  • Offering “free planning help” to a $20k safari client erodes trust

  • Copy-pasting general itineraries to Instagram while niche clients want detail

  • Ignoring Gen Z’s appetite for transparency and instead pushing salesy messaging

This is about meeting your client’s mental model, and therefore charging like a professional.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

— Benjamin Franklin


“The clients who spend the most are often the ones who care most about service. If you’re not building offers around their deeper goals, such as ease, transformation, or connection, then you’re not in the game.”

— Antravia Travel Agent Finance Guide

References for Part 1.4

Acknowledgements


Antravia would like to thank our consulting clients and industry partners who generously shared their time, insights, and real-world case studies. All client examples have been anonymized and edited for clarity, but they are based on true advisory engagements and reflect real decisions, challenges, and financial outcomes from across the travel industry.

Antravia Advisory

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