Jamie Biesiada
The number of consumers working with travel advisors continues to increase, says Internova Travel Group.
This year's Internova Index, a report based on internal data and a survey of 4,000 travelers, shows 62% expect to use an advisor this year as their most frequent booking method. That's up from 47% last year.
It appears that the value of advisors continues to be communicated to the traveling public. Demand for travel advisors exploded during the pandemic, when travelers who hadn't booked with an advisor were left struggling to get refunds and make changes on their own.
Most travelers said they are drawn to use advisors for their expertise and support, in addition to a preference to speak with a human about booking travel.
Unsurprisingly, consumers are drawn to advisors when they have complex trips planned. Less than 40% of respondents said they use advisors to book domestic trips, but just under 70% use advisors for short-haul international trips, and just over 70% reported using advisors for long-haul international trips.
International trips tend to be longer than domestic trips -- especially the long-haul trips -- making it an appealing booking for an advisor.
Internova found that luxury and ultra-luxury travelers are the most likely to use travel advisors. Those ultra-luxury travelers are a sweet spot for advisors: their average spending on air is $3,000, and their average per-night spending at hotels is more than $2,300, Internova found.
2026 looking pretty good
Internova found that 67% expect to travel the same amount in 2026 as they did in 2025. Adding to the good news is that 27% expect to travel even more this year, and only 6% expect to travel less than they did in 2025.
Considering that the average traveler went on 6.4 trips in 2025, that's a lot of travel to go around. Most of those trips were domestic, but travelers took an average of just over two international trips in 2025, about on par with the amount of international travel they did in 2024.