The travel industry is set for a robust recovery as confident consumers increase leisure spending and c-suites send more employees on the road to meet clients. <\/p>\n
This is expected to accelerate the pace of growth of the global multi-trillion-dollar industry, directly and indirectly responsible for 9.5% of global GDP last year and some 266 million jobs. <\/p>\n
Already starting to outpace other significant sectors, including financial and business services, the industry is on track to grow another 4.3% in 2014, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), buoyed by higher consumer spending. <\/p>\n
Profitability for travel companies should also start to edge up, bringing opportunities for further job creation in the process, said WTTC chief executive David Scowsill. <\/p>\n
The travel sector has already been trending higher. Travel booking site Orbitz (OWW) on Monday reported a 4% increase in revenue as bookings increased, while the firm forecast higher-than-expected sales for the current quarter. <\/p>\n
Marriott International (MAR) last month said increased demand in North America triggered higher room rates, leading to a better-than-expected rise in first-quarter profit. <\/p>\n
Expedia (EXPE) last week beat bottom-line per-share estimates by a penny and narrowed its quarterly loss as hotel stays and airline bookings pushed revenues up 19% to $1.2 billion. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, TripAdvisor (TRIP) boasted a close to 10% increase in first-quarter earnings as sales increased 22% and traffic to the site soared 44%. <\/p>\n
And on Thursday, Priceline (PCLN) reported a 36% jump in first-quarter earnings on strong international bookings that helped lift revenues 26% to $1.64 billion. Its second-quarter view was light, but that seems more a reflection of its name-your-own-price tool that it says could weigh on sales growth, rather than slowing bookings. <\/p>\n
The deals market around these tourism companies has also been heating up, signaling growing confidence in tourism boardrooms. <\/p>\n
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Trillion Dollar Travel Sector Set to Expand<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The travel industry is set for a robust recovery as confident consumers increase leisure spending and c-suites send more employees on the road to meet clients. Continue reading