Carry on camping

According to a survey by travel portal kayak.co.uk, 60 per cent of Britons have no intention of cancelling their winter holiday plans because of the economic downturn...

Meanwhile, Grahame McKenzie of tourism website Travel Mole, has predicted that the global downturn will cause Britons to holiday in locations within Europe, such as Spain and Italy, naming France, Italy and Germany, he added:

"Potentially there may be an upsurge in ferry bookings, so people will be able to shove all their stuff in a car and just jump in with their kids and everything."

Liam Bailey, Chief Market Analyst for overseas property portal Property Abroad gave us his views on the reports:

"Firstly, it is possible that the findings from the Travel Mole survey go against Grahame McKenzie's predictions -- for this winter anyway -- of course depending on whether or not some of the 60 per cent have made their winter holiday plans to go further afield than Europe, which I believe is a fairly safe bet. McKenzie's statements give no indication of whether he meant this winter only or winters for however long the 'credit crunch' lasts." While it is highly likely that some people will decide to holiday in Europe, most Britons already do holiday in Europe, so I can't see there being a 'massive upsurge', but even a slight upsurge could generate a boost in European property markets."

"McKenzie being right would make the biggest difference to Germany, because German property traditionally has very low rental yields, because of Government restrictions, and because of the fact that very few Germans own their own homes meaning that most rentals are residential. This would -- possibly very quickly -- give Germans the ability to raise their rental rates on short-term leases only, because the Government would see the positive effect this could have on the economy combined with the increase in tourism."

Property Abroad has over 300 properties in Germany, with prices starting at just over £29k on a tenanted 1 bedroom Berlin apartment. Untenanted German apartments are always priced slightly higher; for example a 1 bedroom untenanted apartment in Berlin -- though in a different area -- is priced at £46,405.

 Source: Property Abroad