91福利社

With the news full of the phrases 鈥渃redit crunch鈥�, 鈥渇inancial crisis鈥� and the dreaded word that dare not speak its name - 鈥渞ecession鈥� - you鈥檇 be forgiven for thinking that everyone was walking around with little black clouds hovering over their heads.

In a bid to show that we are not all heading into the abyss, we went on a search for some of today鈥檚 good news stories and we want to find more!

We started in the field of travel and entertainment because while these may seem to be the kind of luxuries that are the first to go if you are watching your pennies, everybody wants to cheer themselves up every now and again so where better for us to start to try and spread a little happiness. And we came up trumps, with a St Albans-based company who seem to be doing fine.

Going well

Theatre Breaks and Good to See are both tour operators under the umbrella of one company. One organises short breaks combined with theatre tickets in London, Stratford-upon-Avon and Paris while Good To See creates educational itineraries for groups of students 鈥� or school trips to you and me!

Managing Director Simon Harding told us that actually things were going rather well and why he thought this was.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a big cost and it鈥檚 something you can do at the drop of a hat 鈥� you can organise something for this weekend for example - and people like to forget about their woes for a while and stop hearing about banks and their problems.

鈥淲e鈥檙e doing very well. This year, since May, we鈥檙e 11-12 per cent up on this time last year.鈥�

School trips

It鈥檚 a similar story for the Good To See side of the business. Manager Rachel Oddy said that they have been just as busy at the start of this academic year as last year, if not more.

鈥淭he reason for this we think is because it鈥檚 educational鈥� she explained.

鈥淭he students are going home to their parents and saying that they want to go on this or that trip and I think the parents are assessing how necessary this is for their children to go on these trips, and because it seems like a worthwhile cost, they can budget to allow for a student to go.

鈥淎lso, the students don鈥檛 have to do something expensive. For example, if you are in the 91福利社 Counties it could just be a trip to London, so you don鈥檛 need to go very far just to get a bit of education outside the classroom.鈥�

And of course, as well as parents wanting their children to have the same experiences as everyone else who is going,听 the power of peer pressure should never be underestimated, something that will always be in Good To See鈥檚 favour!

Risk

However, while people still seem happy to spend money on entertainment, Simon feels that they are more unwilling to take a risk at these uncertain times.

鈥淭he classic shows are doing very well in London鈥� explained Simon, 鈥渆verybody likes to see Phantom of the Opera, We Will Rock You or Chicago. They like to see the older ones that they know they will enjoy. The newer ones are just as worthwhile going to see but maybe people don鈥檛 want to take a risk, they are a little reticent about taking a gamble even though there are some cracking deals to be had in the West End at the moment.鈥�

This kind of idea was born out by soprano Lesley Garrett, who is currently starring in the UK tour of Rogers and Hammerstein鈥檚 classic musical Carousel. When the show arrived at the Milton Keynes Theatre we asked her if she had noticed dwindling audiences on her travels, because people were cutting back on their expenditure?

鈥淣o I haven鈥檛, in fact it鈥檚 the opposite鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen people are facing hard times and perhaps they can鈥檛 spend the big money on a new car or a house extension or moving, then they spend money on smaller pleasures. We all need cheering up, so I think that people, in a way, are arguably more inclined to go to the theatre because it鈥檚 a lovely night out.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 noticed dwindling audiences, in fact I really do think that people are looking to performers like myself to get them through this. I think that entertainers are people who are very much needed in times of struggle so I鈥檓 really hoping that we can help to lift the mood of the nation.鈥�

And of course, as Carousel is so well known, you kind of know what you鈥檒l be getting for your money, as opposed to an untried and untested musical.

Benefits

However, this kind of unwillingness to take a risk at the moment is something that might actually be benefiting the traditional travel agents and tour operators. Following a number of high profile collapses, people certainly don鈥檛 want to risk their limited and hard earned holiday funds on a company that may collapse, with no guarantee of getting either their holiday or their money back. Simon feels that they may therefore be using travel agents rather than booking independently.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 become important that the companies that people book through are bonded properly鈥� said Simon.

鈥淸For example] Good to See are members of ABTA and we all work together to make sure that customers鈥� money is safe, and so whatever might happen to our company, they can still go on their break. And in the light of recent failures such as Excel, it鈥檚 so important to have that security.

鈥淚f you鈥檝e only got a limited amount of money to spend and this is your big trip of the year, you want it to be safe.

So it seems that travel agents might actually be doing quite well out of people鈥檚 money worries.

鈥淏y all accounts, with the 2009 brochures that have come out recently, the bookings through travel agents have increased since the recent round of travel troubles鈥� said Simon.

鈥淚 think people are going back to the travel agent, they know they are professional and that they will get good service and if they can see the ABTA or ATOL or IATA sign, then they know that there is going to be some sort of help for them if something does go wrong. So check for the ABTA sign, and do it through that company and you鈥檒l be much more relaxed about your whole holiday.

鈥淏oth Theatre Breaks and Good To See are doing very well this year and I see no reason why it won鈥檛 continue to do so. We鈥檙e looking forward to a very busy 12 months!鈥�

Your stories

Of course, while companies like Theatre Breaks and Good To See know their own figures a lot of what is said is also based on what they feel and this too is important. It鈥檚 people鈥檚 attitudes that can lead to recession because if they think that they shouldn鈥檛 be spending money, they don鈥檛, and if money doesn鈥檛 go into the economy, this only makes things worse.

And of course, no one is saying that bad things aren't happening in the economy, but Simon's company's experiences show that when things are tight, people have to make decisions and some companies do better than others out of that. But this also happens all the time, not just in recession.

So with this in mind, we want to hear your stories, both good AND bad, of how the current financial situation is affecting you, so that we can begin to see if things really are bad for everyone, or whether some are having a good time and some aren鈥檛 鈥� just like normal life!