Some Will Hate This: The 2026 Travel Industry Shakeout

The Great Advisor Divide: What 2026 Will Reward, and What It Won't

ASTA's 2026 forecast panel didn't say anything revolutionary. It just confirmed what every seasoned advisor already felt: the gap between professional and pretender has never been wider.

And what's coming isn't a slowdown. It's a sorting.

Travel is booming, but the boom brought chaos.

People jumping in without mentorship.

"Advisors" who think a Canva logo is a business plan.

Agencies running on vibes instead of systems.

Meanwhile, you're doing what you've always done: selling with real expertise. Building relationships that span decades. Keeping your word when flights get canceled at midnight.

Here's what nobody tells the newcomers: luxury travel doesn't reward subs and likes. It rewards endurance.

What's Actually Changing

The biggest shift isn't destinations or commissions. It's expectations.

Clients don't just want personalization anymore. They want professionalism, the kind you can't fake with a good Instagram feed. They can tell the difference between a post and a process. Between energy and execution.

That's why 2026 will separate advisors who treat marketing like a side project from those who treat it like the growth engine it actually is.

Here's the truth: In an age of noise, the advisors who win aren't doing less marketing; they're doing smarter marketing. And they're using every tool available to scale what they've spent decades building.

Where Your Advantage Lives Now

For years, the best advisors won through service and supplier relationships. Those still matter. But the next multiplier is strategic marketing powered by the right systems.

This is where experience becomes your unfair advantage.

Because while newcomers are figuring out what to say, you already know.

The question is: how do you scale your expertise without burning out?

The answer: You build systems that multiply your voice while you're busy serving clients.

The Advisors Dominating 2026 will:

Leverage marketing + AI as force multipliers:

• Newsletters that nurture relationships at scale

• Content systems that showcase decades of judgment

• Social media that positions you as the authority you are

• AI tools that handle repetition so you focus on expertise

• Video that brings your personality to more people

• Marketing infrastructure that compounds while you sleep

This isn't about posting more. It's about working smarter with tools that finally match your level of professionalism.

The difference?

Experienced advisors using these tools are amplifying 20 years of wisdom.

New advisors using the same tools are amplifying... a weekend course.

What ASTA Really Said

The forecast wasn't just about numbers or scams. It was about standards.

It's calling for a new baseline where visibility doesn't equal value.
Where a weekend certification doesn't equal a career.
Where the professionals who built this industry through recessions, attacks, and pandemics can finally leverage modern tools to get what they've earned:

The reach and recognition that matches your expertise.

Moving Forward

As 2026 gets closer, don't stress about competing with noise. Instead, do what smart professionals do:

Use the tools the newcomers can't wield properly.

Tighten your systems. Sharpen your message. Let marketing and AI amplify your decades of experience to the clients who desperately need it.

Because when everything shakes out, luxury clients always come back to one truth:

Experience doesn't expire. But now you can make sure it reaches further.

You've already earned the expertise. Now it's time to build the systems that multiply it.

The Marketing Corner

The Strategic Use of Marketing: How to Turn Experience Into Reach

Experience built your authority. Marketing will multiply it.

But in 2026, marketing isn't about chasing followers or gaming algorithms; it's about building systems that work while you work.

Think of it as your professional amplifier: every touchpoint you create should either deepen trust or extend reach. Nothing in between.

Here's the system seasoned advisors are using to scale without burning out:

1. Newsletters: Your Consistency Engine

The goal isn't mass appeal. It's relationship equity. Your newsletter should feel like a private conversation, valuable enough that clients forward it without you asking.

Strategy: Deliver one clear insight each week that teaches, reframes, or inspires. A two-minute story from the field. A lesson about service, timing, or hidden value. Something only someone with your experience could write.

Consistency builds credibility faster than perfect design ever will.

2. Content: Your Proof of Judgment

Social posts get attention. Long-form content earns respect. Write to show discernment, not just knowledge.

Strategy: Document what your years have taught you. Turn client challenges, supplier insights, or destination nuances into stories that show how you think. That's what separates you from algorithmic travel influencers who've never actually handled a crisis at 2am in Morocco.

3. Social Media: Your Amplifier, Not Your Office

Use social to distribute value, not to live there. Post less often if you need to, but with more intention: one strong insight, one story, one reason to trust you.

Strategy: Lead with emotion ("Here's what this moment taught me"), close with education ("Here's how I apply it for clients"). Always include a bridge to your owned platforms, newsletter, website, YouTube channel.

Social rents you attention. Your platforms own it.

4. Video: Your Connection Multiplier

People remember faces more than names. Video builds trust faster than text because it shows tone, presence, and calm authority, the three signals luxury clients buy into.

Strategy: Record one short video per week answering a real client question. Keep it conversational. Don't perform, explain. A phone, good light, and clarity beat cinematic production every time.

Your clients don't need Netflix. They need to know that you know what you're talking about.

5. AI: Your Force Multiplier

AI doesn't replace your voice. It removes the friction between thinking and creating.

Strategy: Use it to draft outlines, turn newsletters into social posts, summarize client calls, refine proposal language. Feed it your voice, your principles, and your tone, not generic prompts.

The advisors using AI right now aren't getting lazier. They're getting leverage.

Final Thought

You've already done the hard part: building trust the slow way, earning credibility one client at a time.

Now it's time to scale it the smart way.

Marketing and AI aren't shortcuts. They're force multipliers for the standards, systems, and stories you've already proven.

Because if the last 20 years taught us anything, it's this:

Expertise keeps you in business. Systems make sure the right people know about it.

Industry Signals & Moves

High-end bookings keep climbing even as mid-tier demand softens.

Affluent travelers are still driving record occupancy in 5-star properties, according to The Washington Post. The luxury segment remains the only tier posting year-over-year growth.

Focus on affluent, experience-driven clients. Scale depth, not volume.

Authenticity is replacing opulence as the new luxury currency.

Investopedia reports that high-net-worth travelers now prefer “nonna’s kitchen in Tuscany” over another marble suite, meaning relevance and story are outperforming excess.

Re-frame proposals around meaningful moments, not amenities.

AI adoption inside agencies is skyrocketing, with mixed mastery.

A Business Insider feature shows small agencies tripling output using AI assistants, yet warns that human judgment still closes the sale.

Audit how you’re using AI: if it isn’t saving hours or elevating your insight, you’re not using it

Luxury travellers now rank “sense of place” above brand prestige.

A new Luxury Travel Advisor survey found 100% of respondents rated authentic local identity more important than brand uniformity.

Highlight destination-specific texture in every pitch; the detail that proves you’ve been there.

Tool of the Week

beehiiv: The Newsletter Platform Built for Professionals Who Think Like Publishers

If your newsletter is supposed to be your consistency engine, you need infrastructure that treats it like an asset, not an afterthought.

beehiiv was built by former Morning Brew operators for creators who treat content like business. It lets you design, send, segment, and monetize from one clean dashboard, no plugins, no chaos.

For travel professionals, that means:

• Smart segmentation by client type or interest

• Referral programs that grow your list while you sleep

• Built-in analytics that show what stories actually convert

If you’re serious about building your owned media system, beehiiv is the place to start.

🔗 beehiiv.com

One Simple Move This Week

Audit your marketing like a client itinerary.

Open your newsletter, website, and social feed and ask yourself one question:
“Would I hire me based on this?”

If the answer isn’t an immediate yes, fix one element; headline, visual, or call to action, that doesn’t match your level of professionalism.

Small refinements signal big standards.