Opening the Barclays Travel Forum in London yesterday, Gavin Isle, head of UK coverage at Barclays Corporate Banking told delegates: “I remain cautiously optimistic about the economy. There is definitely a sector divide – in manufacturing we’re seeing a lot of growth there, and in tech and telecoms.
“But in all sectors we’re seeing businesses performing well. What is key is a good understanding of your market and product.”
Isle added he had noted that unlike other sectors there was no north or south divide in the travel industry. “We’re seeing businesses in the north performing very strongly, such as Jet2.com, which continues to perform very well,” he said.
Graham Pickett, global head of aviation and travel at Deloitte, agreed he was also optimistic, but added: “There’s a fair degree of caution around”.
“Our survey shows a decline in consumer spend, which could affect the holiday space,” he said. “There’s a change in how people will take their holidays and that has an impact on spend.”
Asked about the lates market for this year, Pickett replied: “The late bookings market will be quite challenging because I think there will be excess demand around so we could see some late deals. But this is not an industry that struggles with change,” he added.
