Villa rentals in 2009: a scary world but you’ll be OK

Ho ho ho. 3 reasons for a pessimistic Christmas and a miserable new year:

• The pound is 1.10 to the Euro and falling
• Demand looks like it will be slack because of the global recession.
• Your costs are on the up (and see first point above).

But all is not lost. 4 reasons to be optimistic

• Europe is set to benefit from the decline in long-haul tourism: those who feel unable to stretch to a fortnight in Hawaai might downsize it in France instead.  (And they might quite like Europe and stop going to Hawaai for good).
• The pound might well recover against the Euro (or you might say: the Euro will also collapse) because a) the Germans will have a serious car industry problem which may make the Detroit situation look like a tea party. b) The Italians have too much public debt c) etc etc (x 27 countries)
• In the UK market the holiday is now seen as a necessity rather than a luxury and flitting away for the odd week long break is now normal, not the preserve of the ‘jetset’.
• Anyone who has the nous to offer in Euros to the European market is of course unaffected – just so long as you can spend those Euros.  And that shouldn’t be a problem!

So, more reasons for optimism than pessimism.