So far the failure of any single Brexit doomsday prediction to materialize has led to even more embarrassment for all the “experts” which forecast doom and gloom should the UK dear to divorce from Europe. Last week even Mark Carney had to admit his dire warnings were wrong, when the BOE toned down its immediate “technical recession” forecasts, now seeing “only” a 0.7% growth rate in 2017, a far cry from the outright contraction it had warned about (that did not stop it however, from cutting rates to a record low and launching the latest corporate bond monetization program). And now, thanks to the ongoing drop in the sterling, another fringe benefit of Brexit has emerged.
As Sky News reports, the slump in the pound since the Brexit vote has produced an immediate boost for UK tourism with flight bookings into the country up on last year, according to a new report.
As closely documented, the sterling has fallen by about 10% against both the US dollar and the euro in the wake of the poll, making trips to Britain cheaper for international visitors. As a result International net bookings rose 4.3% in the 28 days to 21 July according to travel information firm ForwardKeys.
It reverses a trend in the month before the referendum when bookings were 2.8% lower.
ForwardKeys chief executive Olivier Jager said: “Brexit had an immediate, positive impact on inbound tourism to the UK, which is converting into better than anticipated arrivals.”
A rise in UK visitors attracted by the cheaper pound could translate to a better summer for tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels and shops – who are already expecting to benefit from a growth in domestic “staycation” breaks as Britain’s consumers tighten their belts amid Brexit uncertainty.
The ForwardKeys figures showed bookings from outside Europe up 8.6% in the four weeks after the poll, having been down 0.1% in the month before. The rise was driven by visitors from Hong Kong, the US and Canada. Bookings from Europe were 1.8% lower, an improvement on the 6.8% decline recorded in the pre-Brexit month.
In summary, it is looking increasingly likely that George Soros, who infamously predicted that “the Brexit crash will make all of you poorer” days before the Brexit vote, was dead wrong while outspoken, if mocked contrarians, like SocGen’s Albert Edwards, were spot on in suggesting that Brexit is just what the US economy so urgently needed.
via http://ift.tt/2bchdpf Tyler Durden