American Marketing Group (AMG) said its travel agency networks -- Travelsavers, Network of Entrepreneurs Selling Travel and the Affluent Traveler Collection -- have become the first to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

Nicole Mazza, AMG's chief marketing officer, said the move gives its members access to the attractive market of cryptocurrency holders, which tends to skew toward more premium and luxury products.

"When you take a look at the overall crypto business, of how much crypto is out there and the demographic that is utilizing crypto today, we see a very strong demographic that is looking toward travel advisors," Mazza said. "We want to make sure that we're on the forefront, that if an advisor has somebody who has cryptocurrency, they're able to manage that client properly and have the resources to book that client."

According to digital currency solution company Triple-A, there are more than 560 million cryptocurrency owners in the world, or 6.9% of the global population. The majority, 61%, are male, and 34% are between the ages of 25 and 34. Thirty-one percent are between 35 and 44.

"There is a growing demographic of aspiring luxury that is in there," Mazza said.

Industry research also indicates that those groups of people are looking to work with travel advisors more than they have in the past, according to Mazza.

Kathryn Mazza-Burney, chief sales officer, said not many travel advisors ask clients if they hold cryptocurrency but that they've started doing so since AMG's announcement.

"The more they started to ask, the more surprised they were that many do hold crypto," Mazza-Burney said. "It opens up a brand new opportunity to upsell, because so many of those that have it, have so much of it."

AMG partnered with a third-party cryptocurrency bank to enable the transactions, Mazza said. Advisors' clients can pay with cryptocurrency simply by selecting it as a payment method on a drop-down menu on AMG's proprietary TripXpress platform.

New AI tool for marketing

AMG made the crypto announcement in late September around its annual Affluent Traveler Collection Symposium held in Marco Island, Fla. 

It was among a flurry of news and updates from AMG, including the introduction of a proprietary AI tool, AI Connect, that helps advisors generate marketing content. The tool integrates with Canva to create graphics using royalty-free images.

While AMG offers marketing on behalf of its advisors as well as help with campaigns, AI Connect will help them create their own campaigns faster. The tool is trained to understand the travel industry.

"What used to take them sometimes eight, 12 hours pulling together a campaign, they're able to actually put through AI Connect and do it in under an hour, in under 30 minutes, depending on how proficient you get with the system," Mazza said.

AI Connect will help advisors create efficiencies in their businesses, which is always a goal of AMG when it comes to technology tools, Mazza said.

"We know that is their No. 1 need: time," she said. "They have more clients. We're in a booming market. There are all the statistics of more people using travel advisors, looking and seeking their advice and seeking their expertise."

That need for time was evidenced in a recent survey of AMG agencies in which 30% of respondents said recruiting and hiring advisors is a challenge, with 19% saying they were concerned about handling client requests while short-staffed. 

Nearly one-quarter of respondents, 24%, will add at least one independent contractor this year, and another 28% are considering it. In addition, 17% said they will add on-staff advisors this year, and 28% are considering it.

"The more we can take off of their plates and assist them with, the more business that they can manage from a selling standpoint," Mazza said. "That's our No. 1 priority when we look at all of our marketing and technology."