Travel companies face hard times ahead of a hoped-for recovery next year, but business leaders see benefits in some firms going under.
Kuoni UK managing director Nick Hughes told the Travolution Summit in London on Tuesday: “It does not do our industry any good when a lot of players enter on low margins in good times.”
Travelsupermarket.com managing director Graham Donoghue agreed, saying: “Recession is not necessarily bad. Strong organisations will survive.”
The summit heard a leading economist predict the UK recession would end in the final quarter of this year, but the outlook is uncertain and consumer spending could be “off the agenda for a while”.
Amadeus group vice-president Gillian Gibson told the summit a rush by airlines to offer accommodation and car hire would bring them limited revenue.
Tripadvisor managing director for Europe Marc Charron conceded a partnership with Facebook had yet to yield a return on investment, but said: “This is no time for social media fatigue.”
Travolution is the sister title of Travel Weekly.