Douglas McWilliams from the Centre for Economics and Business Research spoke at ABTA’s Travel Matters Conference on 3 June and gave some useful predictions for the industry.

He believes that while there will be some setbacks, the world economy is in recovery mode thanks to the driving powerhouses of nations such as China, India, Brazil and Russia.

He predicted that the price of oil will be stable for the next few years.

He also stated that due to the planned spending cuts in the UK, the consumer will going to be squeezed over the next couple of years, but that whereas during the recession the UK consumer spent more money on essentials, they now have now decided to spend more on luxuries and a bit more on travel.

McWilliams also predicted that some Mediterranean countries would come out of the Euro. He was unsure as to when that maybe but believed that it would be within 5 to ten years.

Click here for Douglas McWilliams' presentation and webcast.