Fok want there to be more escorts then there needs to be more incentive to escort.
there is no real financial incentive to escort, because it's so much easier to make money by trading, mining.
there's not as great of incentive for people looking to pew, because folks could just as easily play as pirates, bounty hunters , or military and find plenty of opportunities there for pews.
so in essence the only people playing escorts are just the people who really wants to RP as one, which I don't think is easy to incentivize, if possible at all.
but I don't see escorting as ever becoming more popular (without screwing someone else over) unless you approach it from one of these three angles.