The travel industry has reason for confidence, a leading City commentator assured the Abta Travel Convention.
Justin Urqhuart Stewart told the Convention in Greece: “You need to be wary of doom-laden headlines.”
He gave several reasons for optimism – including the fall in the oil price, falling unemployment and “confidence rising in America, the UK and the euro zone”.
Urqhuart Stewart said: “We had a financial disaster. We had all that [central bank] stimulus. There are big imbalances in the world. We are in a new era of low growth, low interest rates and low returns. But those who adjust will prosper.”
He dismissed the fact that “the markets are going up and down quite oddly”, and said: “The US economy is doing rather well. The rest of the world needs America to function, and it is.”
Urqhuart Stewart was critical of the UK government and the euro zone, saying: “You don’t grow an economy by austerity. The American view was to grow the economy.”
He called for a restructuring of Greek debt, arguing: “You cannot reduce an economy by one quarter and expect it to recover.”
But he told the Convention: “The euro is not going to fail any time soon. Figures coming out of the euro zone are improving.”
Turning to Britain, Urqhuart Stewart noted recent growth in real wages and said: “People are starting to feel a bit better off.”
He concluded: “It’s not a bad picture.”
Urqhuart Stewart told Convention delegates: “You are a great ingredient to the British economy.” He stressed: “The key word is confidence”