Comment: Now is the time to channel optimism

Every morning when I open my daily 9am Travel Weekly Business:am email news alert I read down to the bottom to look at the ‘Other News' headlines.

Drawn from the national media, these stories are a handy barometer of how the UK economy is faring.

In recent weeks there's been a noticeable shift towards the positive due to a flurry of upbeat economic indicators. Indeed, given the depth of doom and gloom of recent years, the change has been remarkable.

Is it real? Is it sustainable? The jury is out, and already there are worrying suggestions by experts that the current upturn is fragile. But I suspect many of you are just happy to have a reason to feel a little more optimistic at long last, even if this is yet to properly manifest itself in your businesses.

It is this improvement in our immediate prospects that has prompted VisitBritain chairman Christopher Rodrigues to appeal to the industry to stop whingeing.

He believes our industry has successfully made its points to government, even though we may not get everything we want.

His general point is that any industry that approaches its challenges collectively with a positive frame of mind is more likely to succeed.

With Britain continuing to bask in glorious sporting achievement for a second successive year, now is the time to channel some of that optimism.

Many of the business owners I meet in travel are eternal optimists, so I, for one, don't doubt we have a bright future.