Travel Weekly’s Lucy Huxley looks ahead to the coming year
I received the latest message from my energy supplier last week, advising me of price hikes to come in the new year.
It was hardly the type of festive message you’d want to receive in December, and it was another reminder that the economy – and those not fortunate enough to be isolated from cost-of-living challenges – are certainly not out of the woods yet.
The continued pressure on disposable incomes and geopolitical uncertainty were highlighted again by analysts Euromonitor this week as the biggest barriers to further growth in the sector next year.
But despite these ongoing concerns, the general impression I am getting from those I speak to in the trade is that confidence remains high for another strong start to the year.
Even before the pandemic, we were seeing the peak selling period extend beyond the traditional January spike, and after a long period of sustained momentum earlier this year, that is again the expectation for 2024.
Let us hope there is no recurrence of the disruption to travel we have seen during previous peak periods and the industry can avoid any negative media coverage over Christmas and New Year and focus instead on positive messaging and calls to action.
This is our final edition of 2023 but you can keep abreast of the latest news and analysis on travelweekly.co.uk until we return in print on January 4. Until then, the entire Travel Weekly team joins me in wishing you a safe and peaceful Christmas and a positive start to the new year.
Comment originally from Travel Weekly, December 14 edition