Escalating trade wars, the impact of Brexit, possible oil supply shocks and a growing likelihood of recession will put a damper on global air travel and hotel rates in 2020, according to an industry forecast.[SINGAPORE] Escalating trade wars, the impact of Brexit, possible oil supply shocks and a growing likelihood of recession will put a damper on global air travel and hotel rates in 2020, according to an industry forecast.
"We have seen over the last few years that the economy has been growing at a very stable rate. That was the case in 2018 as well," CWT senior director of Asia-Pacific multinational sales Akshay Kapoor told Reuters in an interview. Germany's Lufthansa on Tuesday posted a decline in second-quarter earnings, hurt by price competition on short-haul routes and rising fuel costs, adding the European market would likely remain challenging until at least the year's end.
An anti-government campaign in Hong Kong that led to protests so far had only a minimal impact on business travel bookings, although some companies were starting to tell employees to defer non-essential travel or cancel plans to visit the city, Mr Kapoor said.