19 MAR 2019: Coming off a “tremendous” year of growth in 2018, Travel Leaders Network, which counts more than 6,000 associates and member travel agency locations in North America (including 680 in Canada), has plenty of insight into what’s trending in the travel industry.

First and foremost, says John Lovell, President – Leisure Travel, Supplier Relations and Networks, for Travel Leaders Group (parent company of TL Network), is the “renaissance of the travel agent,” whereby consumers are increasingly valuing the ability of counsellors to combine technology with high touch personal service. The trend of “embracing” agents applies particularly, and perhaps surprisingly, to tech-dependent Millennials, who value third-party experiences, says Lovell, and has played out in a big way through the media, including television.

As such, both leisure and corporate agents are in prime position to take advantage of strong economic growth and continued strength in consumer confidence in North America, with TL Network president Roger Block noting, “the comment we keep hearing is that people are spending more and more and more.”

And they are increasingly doing so on authentic and customized experiences, he adds, stating, “People don’t just travel to see the Pyramids, they want experiences: to go to the local market, meet local families. And they want it to be sustainable.”

Here are some of the latest travel and tourism trends, according to Lovell and Block:

• Cruising and international travel continue on an upswing

• World cruising is exploding, and expedition cruising is “really coming on”

• River cruising continues to grow (prompting Lovell to quip: “I wish they’d dredge a few more rivers.”)

• Long-haul destinations such as the Asia-Pacific region, and Australia & New Zealand, are thriving

• Egypt is hot and Turkey is back

• Hurricane recovery in the Caribbean is “encouraging.”

Meanwhile, last fall, TL Network conducted a trends survey of more than 3,500 consumers. Results included:

• 96% of respondents intend to travel for vacation in 2019 and 89% plan to spend the same or more

• Nearly 90% will take the same or more trips

• 76% are planning at least two or more leisure trips in 2019

• 36% will take at least one solo trip • Bleisure – nearly 75% of respondents indicated they sometimes extend business trips for personal leisure.

In summary, Lovell says, “Consumer confidence is high, and people are willing to spend.”

And he adds, “At the end of the day, consumers have so much information, but they need confidence and validation. And they want the human touch for validation, they want someone to hold their hand through the experience… We’re very, very encouraged for 2019.”