Travel sector revenues saw sustained recovery in the first half of 2022 after slumping to a quarter of pre-pandemic levels in 2020 and 2021.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures obtained by Travel Weekly sister title Travolution show that in 2020 and 2021 combined operator and agent sector annual revenue was about £9.5 billion – a quarter of the £37.5 billion recorded in 2019.
Revenues in April, May and June 2020 were 7%, 6% and 8% of those in the equivalent months of 2019.
Between April 2020 and December last year, the month-on-month revenues comparison hit 50% of 2019 just once in November 2021, before last winter’s Omicron surge.
However, revenue data for 2022 show a sustained month-on-month bounce-back for agents and operators with February revenues 63% of 2019, March 67%, April 77%, May 88% and June 86%.
The impact on agents and operators closely mirrors Civil Aviation Authority passenger numbers in the aviation sector which were 25% and 22% of 2019 levels in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
This sector also saw a marked improvement in 2022 with month-on-month passenger numbers hitting a two-year high of 79% of 2019 levels in June.
ONS employment figures also show the Covid impact on agency and aviation workforces.
Both saw staff numbers slump by 10,000 last year compared to 2020, leaving 42,641 agents in the UK and 69,000 aviation employees.
Agent numbers are forecast to recover to 47,577 this year in 4,130 firms but remain well down on the 67,625 in 4,165 firms recorded by the ONS in 2016.
The tour operator sector is much smaller with just over 21,000 staff working in 1,800 companies this year.
Chris Photi, White Hart Associates’ head of travel and leisure, said the pandemic “made businesses leaner and meaner”, with “increased efficiencies from their retained staff and improved IT”.
“Travel agents are also likely to max out demands on existing staff levels before they recruit further particularly given the uncertainties of the energy, cost of living and interest rates crisis,” he said.
“The other factor clearly is the ‘work from home’ culture that was one of the most extreme changes we have seen in employment habits and the need for employers to embrace home and hybrid working in order to retain and recruit.
“An extension of this in the travel agency world is the increase in homeworking freelance agents as successfully embodied by entities like Inteletravel.”
Stephanie Slark, The Travel Network Group membership services director, said members are holding more business partner or themed events in-store rather than elsewhere – but suppliers also have fewer sales staff so they are not always able to support agents.
“In the past six-nine months, our members have had to make tactical decisions around opening hours, for example, closing the shops on quieter days and overflowing calls to nearby branches,” she added.
Cressida Sergeant, Traveltek chief commercial officer, said: “Agents have needed to adapt and have invested in technology to streamline their processes and drive efficiencies through payments and automation.
“The take-up in automation across travel has been slow but those who have invested have seen instant benefits.
“Agents have also adapted their range of supply on the back of service and support challenges during the last few years and technology aids this strategic shift.”
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