ASTA Financial Survey Shows Agencies Slowly Recovering
ASTA Financial Survey Shows Agencies Slowly Recovering
A recent survey on financial benchmarking, in which ASTA asked member agencies to evaluate their 2010 revenue, transactions and client base against their 2009 performance, found that most agencies have seen their revenue rebound or remain the same. The results are much stronger than those found this time last year when the same question was asked comparing 2009 and 2008 revenue and transactions.
The majority of agencies have seen either an increase in revenue or seen revenue remain the same when comparing the first quarter of 2010 with the first quarter of 2009. Over a third are still seeing decreases even when compared with a weak year like 2009.
Thirty-six percent of agencies saw a decrease in revenue, 17 percent said revenue has remained the same, and 47 percent have seen an increase in revenue. Thirty-six percent of agencies saw a decrease in transactions, 19 percent said transactions have remained the same, and 45 percent have seen an increase in transactions. Twenty-nine percent of agencies saw a decrease in the number of clients, 32 percent said number of clients has remained the same, and 38 percent have seen an increase in number of clients.
When looking only at corporate travel agencies, most agencies reported their revenue and transactions increased in the first quarter of 2010 over 2009. When compared to all agencies, corporate travel agencies have seen a larger increase in revenue or transactions. In the 2009 survey, they suffered the largest decreases and while they are looking stronger in 2010, they have the most to recover.
Forty-two percent of corporate travel agencies saw a decrease in revenue, 8 percent said revenue has remained the same, and 54 percent have seen an increase in revenue. Forty-two percent of corporate travel agencies saw a decrease in transactions, 8 percent said transactions have remained the same, and 50 percent have seen an increase in transactions.
Comparing the results in 2010 versus 2009 for the percentage of agencies saying they have seen decreases in revenue and transactions clearly shows an improvement. The positive results are dampened considering 2010 performance is being compared to 2009, a very weak performance year.
In 2009, 73 percent of agencies reported a decrease in revenue and transactions in the first quarter when compared to the first quarter of 2008. In 2010, the percentage of agencies seeing a decrease in revenue and transactions dropped to 36 percent. For corporate travel agencies, the percentage that saw a decrease in each of these categories in 2009 was 92 percent compared to 42 percent in 2010.
Some agents were very positive when asked to estimate their profits for 2010, while 13 percent expect to make no profits in 2010. Agents were more positive for 2011, suggesting an average profit of 11 percent when measured as a percentage of total revenue.
In 2009, agencies reported, on average, a 7 percent profit measured as a percentage of revenue. The most common answer given by responding agencies was 0 percent. In 2010, agencies projected an average profit of 9 percent. In 2011, agencies are forecasting an average profit of 10 percent.
