Tourism

Jordi Valls, the Deputy Mayor for Economy, Tax, Economic Promotion and Tourism, highlighted the importance of the human factor in travel agencies. After a record summer, the surveys appeared to bode well for a very positive autumn and winter for travel bookings, despite the scenarios of economic slowdown forecast by experts.

The challenges of travel agencies and their role in the tourism value chain were the two issues focused on in the discussions held at the 23rd ACAVe Forum; the main meeting point organised every autumn by ACAVe for analysing the future trends of the travel agencies sector in Spain principal. This year’s edition, which was held at the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, brought together over 200 participants.

Jordi Martí, the Chair of ACAVe, asserted that “travel agencies will be undergoing an important transformation over the coming years. We are facing notable challenges, such as changes in consumer habits, the appearance of AI and, of course, climate change. We do not have to be afraid of the change. In fact, the travel agencies sector has been one best able to transform itself and naturally adopt phenomena such as digitalisation. In view of this context, we thought it was essential for the annual ACAVe Forum to focus its discussions on these changes.”

The first discussion panel focused on the strategy of tourist providers and the value of travel agencies in tourist distribution. During the second session, which dealt with the new challenges of travel agencies, Arnau Boronat, the CEO of POL VIATGES, described ecological transition, specialisation and digitalisation as the three main challenges facing agencies. The final debate involved a discussion about traveller trends in light of economic developments between the event’s host, journalist Cristina Riba, and the economic analyst and tech communicator Marc Vidal. He explained that globally, we have not returned to pre-pandemic levels due to high inflation rates.

During the event’s conclusion, the Minister for Business and Labour of the Catalan government, Roger Torrent, remarked how agencies, as with any other economic sector, had to transform themselves, joining forces with ground-breaking technologies. “Facing increasingly demanding citizens, agencies need to contribute value to stay competitive“.

He was joined by Jordi Valls, the Deputy Mayor for Economy, Tax, Economic Promotion and Tourism at Barcelona City Council, who brought the event to a close in a talk highlighting the importance of the human factor in travel agencies. 

The ACAVe survey

The survey presented was conducted among the more than 400 agencies making up ACAVe, representing not just origin and destination sectors at the national level but also tour operators, retailers and cruises.

This time, it asked questions about some of the issues to be dealt with at the Forum, such as the new challenges facing travel agencies:

• The main challenge put down by respondents was price increases, a cross-cutting phenomenon that had affected all the tourist products making up the overall travel package: transport, accommodation, restaurants and activities. This was followed by the challenge of digital transformation and AI, a process bringing about great opportunities but without a clear direction that anyone could predict. Third place went to the challenge of economic uncertainty, a factor that was compelling many companies to work with short-term scenarios which prevented them from doing any strategic planning. This was followed by the challenge of a shortage of qualified staff, a further consequence of the pandemic, which forced numerous professionals to change sectors. Another challenge for agencies was climate change, perhaps one of the factors most expected to affect not just the activity of tourist destinations but also consumer behaviour in the short and medium terms. The last of the factors agreed on by agencies was competition from emerging markets.

2023 summer assessment and autumn and winter forecasts

The agencies surveyed by ACAVe made a very positive assessment of the summer season that ended this September. 50% of the travel agencies recorded increased sales of between 5% and 15% compared to the same season in 2022. Another 41% of the respondents closed the summer financial period with a 15% increase in sales compared to 2022. Such increases are shared by both origin and destination agencies and by agencies specialising in cruises.

Travel sales were expected to remain higher in the autumn and winter despite the forecast recession for some European origin markets and an increase in prices showing no signs yet of abating. 59% of the travel agencies expected increased sales of between 5% and 15% compared to the autumn and winter of 2022. Another 18% expected an increase above 15%. Another 23% expected to see the same results as those of 2022.

63% of the agencies confirmed they had so far seen no sign of a slowdown in travel bookings. 18% had noted a slowdown but were convinced that the activity would recover with last-minute sales.

Origin agencies’ assessment and forecasts

Especially notable domestic destinations most in demand from Spanish nationals this summer included Andalusia, the two archipelagos (the Balearic and Canary Islands), followed by Catalonia and the Atlantic Coast. As for international destinations most in demand, the list is headed by the United States, followed by Mediterranean coasts and islands, the Near and Middle East, Africa, Asian countries and, considerably lower down, Cruises and South America.

Asked about their 2023 autumn and winter forecasts, 65% of the respondents asserted that inflation would not be affecting bookings from Spanish nationals, whereas another 6% expected a slowdown of activity, although people would ultimately end up making last-minute bookings. Meanwhile, 29% of the respondents believed that Spanish clients would be travelling less during that period.

Destination agencies’ assessment and forecasts

When it came to origin markets, the most important was France, followed in this order by the UK (the market that grew the most this year), the United States (which continued to grow season after season) and Nordic Countries. Notable national destinations most in demand from international travellers included Catalonia, taking first place, followed closely by Andalusia, the Balearic Islands and urban destinations such as Barcelona and Madrid, which recorded the biggest increases compared to the 2022 season. Other notable destinations were the Atlantic Coast (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country) and, to a lesser extent, various inland locations.

Asked about their 2023 autumn and winter forecasts, 75% of the respondents expected travel bookings to keep on growing, whereas 25% predicted a certain slowdown of activity.