Inflation’s soaring, the pound’s collapsing, and the Bank of England reckons we could be heading for recession. But one man still has a smile on his face.

Manny Fontenla-Novoa, chief executive of travel operator Thomas Cook, reckons he’s seen no evidence of consumers cutting back or trading down on their annual holidays. In fact, he’s even planning to stick prices up by 8% next year.

In this morning’s Telegraph, Richard Fletcher muses that while consumers are willing to put off replacing their sofa or their car, “the holiday… is sacrosanct, or so it seems. Even in a downturn, there are winners and losers.”

There sure are. But holiday companies won’t be among them. Here’s why…

The boom’s over. Most people probably accepted that around about the end of last year, as it became obvious that house prices weren’t rising anymore. And as the year has worn on, they’ve also accepted that the wider economy is in trouble. House prices are tanking. Credit is getting harder to come by. Energy bills are shooting up – and it looks like their monthly payments may well jump too when they have to remortgage.

All of that is enough to make people feel that bit poorer. And what’s the first thing you cut back on when you feel poorer? Impulse buying. Think about it. If you take a stroll down the High Street on a Saturday morning, with money in your wallet, safe in the knowledge that your house price rose by another £1,000 last month, then you’re very open to temptation. New pair of jeans? It’s only £40. New flat-screen telly? Stick it on the house.

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Source: Why You should Sell Travel Stocks Now