Simon Ferguson: Findings from the 'State of the Nation' survey

TW Group publishing director Simon Ferguson is presenting the 'State of the Nation' research Travel Weekly conducted in association with Advantage.

Thanks to the internet, I can give you a direct link to the findings (pdf), but here are some top-line bits:

• Leisure agents reported a good year, but there's evidence this was down to value rather than volume of sales
  
• Two thirds memebers see the internet as an opportunity, not a threat
• Half of Advantage members consider themselves 'tech-savvy'
  
• Niche, luxury and experience are big growth areas for leisure businesses. These play to the strengths of independent agents, Simon points out.
• Business agents expect airline issues and the economy to dominate the next five years

The survey found optimism generally high, but a show of hands has only 50% of this audience feeling that way.

That's not wholly surprising - the survey was conducted before the collapse of XL...