Are you dreaming about banishing Britain’s grey skies in favour of exotic sun and sand? And, if so, will you be foregoing home improvements to pay for your summer break?
That’s the suggestion made in a BBC Online article this week. Mind you, they are quoting a spokeswoman from the Association of British Travel Agents. Perhaps if they’d spoken to someone from a major DIY chain it would have been a different story altogether.
Still it’s an interesting point. What will be people’s spending priorities in 2008?
With an expected downturn in the UK property market, as discussed in this article on the Easier Property website, home improvements are going to look like an increasingly attractive option for people who feel unwilling or unable to sell up and move on.
We reckon it’s probably too close to call at the moment – but we’ll be watching the business pages with interest…
Is holiday fever going to spread?
Perhaps it is the winter chill, or maybe the fast disappearing memory of Christmas, but at this time of year our thoughts turn to summer holidays.
Booking season starts in earnest after the first pay packets of the year arrive.
But will families be digging deep for a place in the sun as rising fuel bills start to land on the doormat, credit is harder to come by and house prices stall?
They already have been, according to Frances Tuke, spokeswoman for Abta. She says Abta members have been reporting a very busy January and February, although there are no figures yet to back this up.
“People will find a way to pay. They tend to cut back on things on home improvements and still go on holiday,” she says.
She predicts that spending on foreign travel will stay around the same this year as in 2007. Read full article here…