NEW YORK — Travel advisors are more popular than ever, with travel bookings made by advisors up 33%, according to a 2015 MMGY study. The findings were shared by Virtuoso Chairman and CEO Matthew D. Upchurch at the company’s annual Symposium in Cape Town, South Africa, which was attended by nearly 480 of luxury travel’s most prominent figures from 43 countries.

Upchurch also shared that of the affluent set (those in the US$250,000 salary range), 30% plan to use a traditional travel advisor in the next two years. Most surprisingly, ‘matures’ and ‘Millennials’ are most likely to use a travel advisor, which reflects findings from Virtuoso’s generational traveler study.

But with the ever evolving world of digital technology, Upchurch also encouraged its agency members to stay abreast of rapid changes in mobile, big data and rich content, and to know when to leverage digital tools to complement the personalized service and attention they provide.

“Travel advisors have never been better poised for success because consumers continue to search for – and even demand – human interaction,” he said. “But if you promote yourself solely as a way to book travel, you’ve lost before you’ve even started. As an advisor, you have to show the value you bring because people don’t go to advisors for information anymore, they go for clarity and curation.”

Virtuoso also shared proprietary research showing how new entrants into the profession are becoming million-dollar producers in record time, with year three marking the point at which they become firmly established.

In year one, the average amount of sales is $402,215. This jumps to $1,050,821 in year two, and $1,443,419 in year three. The number of clients also moves from a year one average of 656 to 172 in year three, while client spend dumps from $6,081 in year one to $8,403 by year three.

Next year’s Virtuoso Symposium will take place in Vancouver from May 3-7. For more information visit Virtuoso.com.