Global Travel Advisor Day is 07 May, a time for the industry to celebrate and reflect on the achievements and resilience of the sector in recent years.
But last week, a report from KPMG claimed that between 2014 and 2024, there has actually been a 34.8% reduction in travel advisor roles, the biggest decrease of any major occupation, due to the impact of the internet.
These figures were based on several sources, including Australian Tax Office tax returns, the Australian Bureau of Statistics Labour Force Surveys and Jobs & Skills Australia NERO data sets.
Closer inspection of those stats reveal that travel agent roles jumped up and down during the first few years of that 10-year period.
For example, in 2013, KPMG calculated 26,798 travel agents, but in 2017, this dropped to 25,041 and 22,825 in 2018.
However, part of the report also came from the last Census which took place in 2021, at the peak of COVID.
According to the Australian Travel Industry Association at that time, the industry had recorded revenue losses exceeding 90%, and more than a third of the workforce had been let go as international travel ground to a halt.
Dean Long, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Travel Industry Association, described the report as “misleading and disconnected” from real-time industry activity and government-backed projections.
“The 2021 Census which KPMG has relied on reflects a time when the borders were closed and the industry in survival mode. Given this, the bulk of the bookings made through our members are for international travel. This period of extensive job losses has continued to impact as the sector rebuilds but the job losses are not due to lack of traveller appetite for expert travel support,” he said. He described today as being “the golden age of travel professionals”.
On the surface, one interpretation of the KPMG report may be that the industry looks like it has been in decline over the years, but the reality is that demand has risen since COVID and future projections look promising. This is especially the case as consumers now seem to value the role of agents more than ever before, particularly post-pandemic.
“We’ve been dealing with online competition for many years, so that‘s not new,” Travellers Choice Managing Director Christian Hunter told travelBulletin.
“What has changed is the way consumers value travel agents. Today, consumers recognise the knowledge and skills that agents offer, and they are happy to pay for that expertise.
“Agents have also learned to place a value on their own time, which is why so many are now comfortable charging fees. If customers want to invest time booking themselves, good on them, but as we all know, without a travel agent, they are on their own!”
As for the future, data from Jobs and Skills Australia from May last year revealed that over the next five years, the sector will grow by 4.3% and nearly 10% within the next decade.
According to Connected Travel Training Academy founder Marissa Papas, there is no shortage of interest from those wishing to pursue a career in the travel industry, but what is lacking is government support to deliver a contemporary training system that caters to the needs and reality of what professionals need today.
People are “lining up to join the industry”, but they need training that goes beyond product knowledge and receiving a certificate.
“They need commercial acumen, client management skills and confidence navigating complex global disruptions,” Papas emphasised.
“Tech training is also huge: understanding airline systems, supplier tools, CRM platforms. The real gap is in bridging the theory with the reality, and that’s what we focus on every day.”
To help address the shortfall of agents within the workforce, said Papas, the Education Department needs to urgently update how qualifications are recognised and delivered in our industry, so that new starters are armed with the right skills to hit the ground running.
“It’s not about replacing formal education, it’s about widening the path so more people can become job-ready in a way that makes sense for the current landscape,” she added. “If we want to fix the workforce shortage, we have to stop trying to fit people into a box that doesn’t work anymore.”
