The article was published on June 21, 2021 in Travel Weekly

Each year, we rank the travel agencies that report $100 million or more in travel sales. But what should a Power List look like in a pandemic year?

We made an early call to freeze the 2021 Power List rankings. With the exception only of 2020 merger and acquisition activity among agencies, the rankings you’ll see on this year’s list are otherwise the same as was compiled by Travel Weekly last June. That list was based on gross travel sales in 2019.

Why freeze the rankings? We knew 2020 reported sales would be anomalous, to say the least. We wondered how many agencies would even be able to meet the traditional minimum sales threshold to be considered for inclusion.

And, frankly, when we surveyed a handful of Power List executives by phone in February about participating this year, they indicated they would, but that they would not want to share their exact sales numbers, the criteria upon which we traditionally determine the rankings.

They did agree, however, to voluntarily report the percentage of their sales decline within five points, along with information about how their business was impacted over this past year, how they reacted to the drop in business and what they see as they move forward.

We were delighted they were willing to provide this intelligence to share with the rest of the industry as we all plot a path toward recovery. The candor and generosity of spirit reflected in these responses was impressive and inspiring, and we’re very grateful to all who participated.