I was planning to do some travelling this spring and summer, but with the economic crisis, I'm not sure if I shouldn't just save my money (especially since the private school I work for is teetering on bankruptcy). Has anyone else had to revise their travel plans because of the recession? Have you noticed fewer fellow travellers recently?
Our local authorities reported a 8.1% dip in visitor arrivals last month. And in Bali every single driver we had lamented the execution of the bombers as apparently they have alot less tourists around at this time of the year compared to normally, though the recession might have affected too. Also with what's happened in Mumbai and Bangkok, I think it's more than just money that's on people's minds when drawing up travel plans.
I'm still going ahead with travel plans for next year, but will have to consider how many side-trips I'll be able to afford from a place, and probably watch my spending. For example I'm heading to Serbia and Istanbul next summer and was originally planning on including Israel too but now it might be axed from the plan.
One of the important things to note is that we're (for the most part) not in a recession yet (I believe that holds true for almost all countries in the world, though there might be exceptions). A recession is predicted for next year (for most countries, though not all; the economy in the Netherlands, for example, is expected to continue growing, even if by only 0.1%). I think the more people are spending less money because of those predictions, the more severe the recession will get, and the more people will, etc, etc.
I really hate echo-chamber effects like that.
Personally I'm hoping to expand my travel plans for next year. Fewer people on the road and cheaper prices... what's not to like?!
That's not to say that you shouldn't make certain you have a buffer to fall back upon if you suddenly find yourself without a job, nor should go spend wastefully - but don't let your actions be dictated by fear either. If you felt you were in a good position to travel six months ago, you should still be in a good position to travel right now.
[ Nov 30, 2008, at 6:23 AM by Sander ]
Australia is supposedly one of the few countries which will probably? avoid a recession but who really knows.
The only restriction it could impose on my travel plans is primarily the xchange rate between the USD and AUD, so the destination is important.
My wife was almost getting 1-1 parity when she was in the US back in May-Aug but now 1 AUD only buys about 64-68 US cents.
Well, actually, Japan, Germany and Italy have announced that they are officially in recession. The entire 'Eurozone' (countries using the Euro) is also officially in recession. I'm not sure if Canada and the U.S. are yet, officially, but it looks certain that they will be. Even here in China, we are beginning to see the effects- some of the foreign factories have stopped production or cut their workforce. China probably won't go into recession, but our economy is already slowing down, and housing prices are falling.
I had plans on going to Spain for the San Fermin festival and to Morocco this summer but I'm not so sure anymore. I guess I'll see what unfolds in the near future. Though, a friend of mine told me she's may gather some people to go on a roadtrip to Pamplona, starting from Berlin and if that's the case I'm almost positive I'll go. I guess it depends on how much you really want to travel. Even if I decided to stay home and save my money, the recession is not going to last forever and my destinations will always be there barring some sort of divine intervention.
As my job appears to be safe (hope I'm not tempting fate here!) and I haven't got many outgoings my travel plans for the next year or 2 haven't really changed. Thing have got more expensive but not to the extent where it would cause me to have to curtail a trip. If I had to I would rather cut back on other things, if possible, before travel.
I'm feeling that the recession is a great time to travel - providing you can afford to go travelling. If you're thinking of going travelling at some point anyway, then the recession is another reason to leave the place you are already in. With the recession there are even less reasons to stay in whatever country you come from while businesses go into adminstration and family and friends lose their jobs.
Go and get out there, see a few places, meet new people, and experience new things. Then hopefully by the time you're ready to come home the recession will be clearing and the workplace will be a better place to be again.
To me, travelling seems like the perfect remedy to the recession-blues!
many countries full of the recession. really such a depressing topic.
I heard that Australia are stopping working holiday visa's next Feb due to overcrowding. I have friends there now who are finding it hard to get work.
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