Everyone who said the Travel Agent is dead is now wrong.
And for Loan Officers, this story matters more than you think.
Remember the mortgage conference slides? The ones that held up the travel agent as the cautionary tale, the profession tech replaced? The internet showed up. Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity let consumers book their own trips. The value of a travel agent buying tickets and making reservations... gone.
Between 2000 and 2012, the number of US travel agents fell by nearly half. Employment peaked around 340,000 in 2000, and by 2011 it sat at less than half of that, numbers from Ernie Tedeschi, Chief Economist at Stripe and a former White House Council of Economic Advisers economist.
That was supposed to be the end.
But today, travel agent is one of the 25 fastest-growing jobs on LinkedIn over the past three years, up 63% between 2024 and 2025, per The Wall Street Journal. A record 47% of Americans now use travel agents to book vacations, including 38% of Gen Z and millennials.
And this comeback is happening mid-AI-revolution.
Why?
Consumers use AI for 90% of their travel research, and new apps keep feeding that habit. But all that research and planning doesn't equal trust. All that information creates overwhelm. AI makes things easier on one hand, and it complicates the other.
So the consumer went looking for an advisor. From Travel Agents... to Travel Advisors.
The consumer is busy, overwhelmed, and just wants it done, with the best experience they can trust.
In the age of AI, we expect tech, speed, ease, and efficiency, and we still want human trust and experience that AI can never know.
This is why I always say: People connect with people, not products.
The consumer wants an advisor, not a loan officer (agent). They want a frictionless experience.
So ask yourself:
Where's the friction for today's consumer?
What keeps your ideal clients up between 2am and 5am?
What do they need YOU to solve, versus what tech can solve?
People are reinventing themselves for this reason. Recognizing they need to shift their value.
Are you an agent, or an advisor?
Either shift happens to you.
Or you Make Shift Happen for you.
Let's go.
Craig Davis
Leadership Performance Coach · Ascend Xperience
Craig is the real deal. I appreciate his authentic, genuine, friend to friend approach. He treats you as a peer even though he has accomplished so much. He brings clarity so that energy and momentum emerge organically.
Darren M.