Chris Photi, head of travel and leisure at White Hart Associates, has alerted the travel industry to the potential impact of a projected rise in unemployment rate from 4.1% to 4.6%. He emphasized that an increase in unemployment may negatively affect the spending habits of consumers, especially in relation to holidays. Photi noted that the consumer confidence index has also seen a dip of seven points, its lowest since March 2024. Despite these projections, he stated that the demand for travel continues to be positive. He suggested that UK consumers are inclined to make sacrifices in other discretionary spending areas to preserve their holiday plans. Citing dining out and purchasing takeaways as the areas where consumers are likely to cut down spending, he expressed optimism for the travel industry due to consumers’ prioritization of holidays as part of their discretionary spends.

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