Credit Crunch Travel

With economic times stretching purse strings everywhere, how is the credit crunch affecting the travel industry generally, and can consumers make savings by avoiding travel insurance?

As predicted back in May 2008 with commendable accuracy, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King commented:

"Things are going to get tougher over the next few years as Britain grapples with the credit crunch and rising inflation due to costlier fuel and food."

(Source: Telegraph)

However, our ordering of priorities lists holidays and travelling as a necessity rather than an optional luxury. We seem to staunchly defend our entitlement to escape the normality of everyday life, and explore new destinations with preferable climates and different cultures.

Lonely Planet's David Else:

“The actual number of people travelling the world or taking a holiday has not been impacted much by the credit crunch."

We may indeed cut back on elements of our holidays, for example scaling back routes from long haul to short-haul, or taking 7 nights instead of 10 nights holiday, and budget travel especially has seen a recent boom thanks to the credit crunch, as documented in The Guardian.

As far as travel insurance is concerned, this is seen as an absolute necessity for any holiday or business trip now, especially because of the general uncertainty that the current economic climate presents. It would certainly be an ill-advised decision to cut back on travel insurance to save a little, but lose financial protection without it.

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