The Economy: How Worried Should We Be?
As fall gets into full swing and we start planning for 2020, I know that many of us are feeling the winds of uncertainty about the economic outlook—for the travel industry and for the world at large. Political instability in the U.S., Brexit, trade wars, the Hong Kong protests, the collapse of Thomas Cook—those and many other factors are contributing to a sense of trepidation, tingeing whatever optimism we may have about future bookings. The guarded mood reminded me of a speech given recently by the celebrated British economist Gerard Lyons . The talk, which was presented at an Accor-sponsored event for travel industry thought leaders, was sanguine about the various challenges faced by the global economy. But it also stressed the many positive underlying factors that should reassure those…