First in Service Travel (F1S) has released data that shows its travel bookings have dramatically increased this year. The independent travel agency is not only enjoying an increase in demand for travel over the past two years, but its travel bookings to date for 2022 eclipse those from the same period in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, up 25 percent. Additionally, a cross-section of surveyed F1S travel advisors say that their individual books of business are enjoying a renaissance this year, particularly as international travel soars.
“With all the pent-up demand for travel, especially within the luxury leisure segment, we are not surprised by our year-over-year increases or those far surpassing 2020, when the pandemic first devastated our industry. But as this year began, we never anticipated that our bookings to date would now soar past those prior to the pandemic in 2019,” said Fernando Gonzalez, CEO of F1S. “Our 31-year-old agency is now on track to enjoy its best year yet, and we’re thrilled that our advisors are sharing in our success.”
Gonzalez also noted that while luxury leisure travel has led the recovery, F1S is also seeing positive momentum among its corporate and entertainment segments as they have mostly returned to pre-pandemic levels. He said that despite economic headwinds, including inflation, F1S expects all three segments to continue growing throughout the year.
“We recently surveyed our advisors to see how they are faring individually. We were very pleased to find our advisors largely experiencing the same kind of boom as we have had company-wide,” said Gonzalez. “The results show that the overwhelming majority are experiencing significant growth in sales, particularly for international travel from both Canada and the United States.” (First in Service expanded into Canada just prior to the pandemic.)
In the survey, F1S advisors in Canada and the U.S. were asked to compare their international bookings for 2022 with each of the past three years, including pre-COVID 2019. The findings are listed below.
- 2022 vs. 2021: 80 percent of advisors indicated that their bookings were up, with 65 percent saying they were “up significantly”
- 2022 vs. 2020: 80 percent of advisors characterized their bookings as up, with 75 percent saying they were “up significantly”
- 2022 vs. 2019: 60 percent of advisors labeled their bookings as up, with 40 percent saying they were “up significantly”
- Canada vs. United States: Canadian advisors were more likely than those in the U.S. to say their international bookings had increased over each of the past three years—2021, 81.8 percent vs. 77.8 percent; 2020, 81.8 percent vs. 77.8 percent; and 2019, 63.6 percent vs. 55.6 percent
In the same survey, Canadian and U.S. advisors were asked to compare their respective domestic bookings for 2022 with each of the past three years, including pre-COVID 2019. The findings are listed below.
- 2022 vs. 2021: 55 percent of advisors indicated that their bookings were up, with 25 percent saying they were “up significantly”
- 2022 vs. 2020: 55 percent of advisors characterized their bookings as up, with 35 percent saying they were “up significantly”
- 2022 vs. 2019: 45 percent of advisors labeled their bookings as up, with 20 percent saying they were “up significantly”
- United States vs. Canada: U.S. advisors were much more likely than those in Canada to say their domestic bookings had increased over the past two years–2021, 77.8 percent vs. 36.4 percent; 2020, 66.7 percent vs. 45.5 percent. However, advisors were nearly on par in comparing 2022 with 2019: 44.4 percent vs. 45.5 percent
“Our advisors are emblematic of our ongoing growth and success. To put it simply, we would not be where we are at this point in the post-pandemic climate without them,” said Gonzalez. “Similarly, we are humbled to hear how instrumental First in Service has been to our advisors’ recovery and renaissance, and we look forward to building on our mutual success together.”
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