Travel industry 'should stave off recession'
Travel industry 'should stave off recession'
The travel industry is "reasonably well placed" to ride out any challenges posed by the credit crunch, according to one expert.Peter Maurice, chief economist at air transport consultancy Ascend, remarked that travel operators have become "street-smart" in terms of their flexibility in the face of financial uncertainty.
"The travel industry is reasonably well placed, certainly in Europe and Asia Pacific, to face up to whatever gets thrown at it," he confirmed.
Mr Maurice went on to predict that US carriers will suffer most as a result of having to make "the most major adjustment".
"That's the area of the world where a cutback in consumer spending looks like it will have a major impact," he explained.
He concluded that a "rebalancing of global markets" could be on the horizon, with both India's and China's tourism markets demonstrating significant growth.
Peter Maurice's comments follow reports which indicated a decline in customer demand for long-haul economy seats, prompting speculation that airlines could cut the number of low-cost seats available.
Figures released by the Association of British Travel Agents in January revealed that UK residents took a total of 70 million trips abroad last year.
This article was brought to you by holidaylettings.co.uk, the UK's No.1 holiday home website.
5 February 2008
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