Travel industry leaders confident of market growth
The vast majority of travel industry leaders are optimistic the market will grow this year, with 69% of those who attended a trade forum this week saying they expected people to travel more than in 2013.
Only 1% of those who attended the ninth Barclays Travel Forum in London said they thought people would travel less.
This year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil, which kicks off next month, has had little impact on bookings for mid-June to mid-July, said those who took part in the snap survey. 39% said the month-long tournament had made no difference to bookings while 20% said business was down 2% to 3% down.
In terms of leisure travel, 36% of the audience said Europe would grow the most, while almost a quarter (24%) thought it would be South America, another quarter said Asia and 13% said North America.
The days of the ‘staycation’ might be over, as 49% felt there would be a minor increase in domestic travel but 29% thought there would be a major decrease.
Political unrest was the single economic factor most likely to dampen demand for travel, according to 49% of the audience, while 15% thought low discretionary spend was a greater concern.
The change in air passenger duty from next April, when all long-haul destinations will be taxed at the same rate, will have little or no impact, according to 41%. Only 2% thought it would make a big difference.
The majority of attendees were also optimistic about business travel, with 78% of those who took part in survey saying they thought there would be an increase in demand this year. However, 22% were expecting a major increase.
There was also concern about the lack of capacity at London’s airports. 31% felt it was already having a negative economic impact and a whopping 60% said that while it wasn’t having an impact yet, they expected it would in the future.
When asked where they would like to see additional capacity, the majority – 49% – said Heathrow.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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